Oklahoma Historical Society to cut 30 jobs

Board members of the Oklahoma Historical Society approved a plan Wednesday that increases admission prices at the Oklahoma History Center, requires admission fees at each of its museums and historical sites, cuts nearly 30 positions and requires the remaining 145 employees at the state’s museums and historical sites to take six furlough days next year.

"We are facing a worsening budget situation,” Bob Blackburn, the society’s executive director, told board members.

Most of the staff positions cut were unfilled full- and part-time positions. Seven full-time employees were offered voluntary buyouts and two full-time employees were let go, Blackburn said. Remaining employees will take a furlough day once a month for the last half of this fiscal year, January through June, he said.

Of the 291/2 staff positions being cut, 24 are in Oklahoma City, Blackburn said.

By approving the plan, board members reversed a decision they made in July to eliminate operating funds for the Healdton Oil Museum and the Peter Conser Home in Heavener and nine other sites across the state.

The plan approved Wednesday calls for each of the museums and sites to take a 17.4 percent cut in operating funds.

Many of the field museums and historic sites have a staff of only one or two people, Blackburn said. The 17.4 percent across-the-board cuts in many cases exceeds operational funds and dips into personnel funds, he said.

To give those communities and facilities a chance to develop a plan for replacing the lost funding, the plan calls for restoring funding to each museum and site through April. The money will come from previously committed construction money, Blackburn said.

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