OXFORD – SAD 17 has gained national media attention after more than 60 percent of district employees agreed to give up a day’s pay to save seven positions from the budget ax.

A crew from ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” was at the administrative offices on Main Street on Thursday morning to tape a segment for its weekly feature “Person of the Week.” It will air at the end of Friday evening’s broadcast, which begins at 6:30 p.m., Eastman said, and feature SAD 17 staff members.

In addition to Eastman, the segment is expected to feature other administrators and teachers, including the teachers’ union president, an education technician, who was due to be laid off, and George Sincerbeaux, principal at the Rowe Elementary School in Norway.

“I think it’s a heart-warming story that has captured national attention,” Eastman said as he waited Thursday for an ABC reporter and cameraman to arrive for the interview.

He cited a portion of President Barack Obama’s inaugural address in which the president spoke about the “selflessness of workers” as an example of the generosity of SAD 17 employees.

In his speech Obama said, “For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job, which sees us through our darkest hours.”

“If you consider this a challenge, our people stepped up to it,” Eastman said.

On Wednesday, ABC’s “Good Morning America” included the story on its broadcast.

A total of 375 of the 605 district employees including teachers, bus drivers, administration, support staff, education technicians, food service, secretaries and custodians, offered an equivalent of a day’s pay to save seven jobs from being eliminated. School officials had already cut more than $400,000 from this year’s budget and needed about $70,000 more to meet the demands of Gov. John Baldacci’s cuts in education spending.

Seven positions would have been cut, including an Oxford Hills high school and an Oxford Hills Middle School custodian, a high school literacy education technician, a high school intervention coordinator, a literacy education technician at Waterford Memorial Elementary School, a middle school special education technician, and a high school study hall monitor.

The goal of $70,000 has been exceeded by more than $3,000 and the “donations” are still being counted, Business Manager Cathy Fanjoy said.

“The generosity goes across the lines,” Eastman said of the staff.

The voluntary donation can be done by reducing biweekly paychecks over the remainder of the year or by taking a unpaid day off, Eastman said.

The excess money will be applied toward future budget cutbacks, which are expected to be even more severe during the next fiscal year, which begins on July 1.

The SAD 17 Board of Directors also has instituted a hiring and spending freeze and the SAD 17 mid-management, supervisors and senior management have approved a furlough day.