With half its budget coming from the state, the Homer Central School District is bracing for budget cuts and those cuts will run deep. Our Tamara Lindstrom tells us the school board is looking to lose nearly ten percent of school staff.

  To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

"We need to be prepared for the worst case scenario," said Homer schools Superintendent Douglas Larison.

The scenario at Homer Central School District is a projected $3.3 million budget gap; about eight percent of the $40 million budget. That shortfall is sure to mean cuts.

"We are hopeful that we are not making dramatic negative impacts to programs in our offerings," Larison said.

Administrators are looking at every expense, from classes to extracurricular programs and supplies.

"Can we do with less supplies? And when you are trying to balance supplies with actually laying somebody off, we really recommended trying to do with even fewer supplies," Larison said.

Up to 40 faculty and staff positions could be cut for next year. Several are expected to be lost through attrition, the others laid off.

At the same time, the board doesn't want to pass the financial burden on to the community.

"The board of education here clearly understands that folks in the community are tapped when it comes to taxes," Larison said.

Meanwhile, the district waits for the state to finalize its budget.

"But I don't see a change coming forward out of Albany," Larison said. "I don't think Albany has the money to support schools as they have in the past. So this has been very difficult. It's difficult on everybody involved."

Especially those who may lose their jobs, but Larison said nothing is set in stone.

The school board is open to input from the community. The board will meet again next Tuesday.