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CHARLOTTE – For the first time, members of the Charlotte Mecklenburg branch of the NAACP sat down with Superintendent Dr. Peter Gorman to discuss ways to avoid deep budget cuts. The organization has been at odds with the school system for months. It's resulted in protests, acts of civil disobedience, allegations of racism and arrests.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools is preparing to layoff more than 550 teachers and slash the number of available seats in the Bright Beginnings pre-K program in response to budget cuts. Currently, the district is preparing to cut $100 million next school year.

"Everybody was very calm and stone-faced," Charlotte Mecklenburg NAACP President Rev. Kojo Nantambu said about the meeting. "But it was nice. It was very pleasant."

NAACP leaders say their proposal is an attempt to save teachers jobs and avoid cuts to the Bright Beginnings program. It includes furloughs, unpaid days off, to everyone making more than $40,000 a year.

"With the furlough's we were trying to keep it as far away from teachers as possible and to deal more so with those who are in administration," former teacher and NAACP Education Committee Co-Chair Belinda Cauthen said.

The furloughs would range from 14 days for those making more than $100,000 to five days for those making between $40,000 and $50,000.

"I'm excited for any group to bring us their ideas for a solution," school board member Rhonda Lennon said. "I think any solution that comes to us is something we need to look at. "

In the past, CMS has implemented a furlough for one day that required approval from the state. Furloughs that would last up to three weeks, Lennon says, is cause for concern.

"Our principals are the CEO's of schools. What three weeks do we tell them to take off and leave their schools without the CEO," she asked.

Along with furloughs, the NAACP wants CMS to take into account the cost savings generated from attrition. They are also asking Mecklenburg County commissioners to issue a $10 million grant that's currently under consideration for the Bright Beginnings program.

"If they want this school system to survive then we all have to make sure we do what is necessary to make sure it survives," Nantambu said.

According to the NAACP, their proposal would save around $14 million.