On Wednesday night, Wareham Public Schools superintendent Dr. Barry Rabinovitch presented the School Committee with a "worst-case-scenario" budget for fiscal year 2011 that, despite being 3.7-percent larger than in 2010, proposed cuts to funding for teaching positions, sports programs, and textbooks.

The proposed budget totalled $26,550,004 with net school spending, or the portion used for direct education costs, costing $25,019,157. Rabinovitch based this number on an estimated 2-percent increase in minimum funding, the State-determined dollar amount that the town must provide to the district. He then determined the cost to maintain "level service" to students.

The result was a shortfall of more than $1.6 million dollars.

"I've gone through and made every cut imaginable," Rabinovitch said, adding that he could not support a smaller budget.

Rabinovitch said he hopes the proposed cuts will convince the Finance Committee that his funding request, although increased from last year, is reasonable.  Although the committee does not ultimately approve the budget, they must present the budget for approval at Town Meeting.

"By doing the worst case scenario and showing we've cut to the bone, we've cut to where it hurts, we're hoping they will" get behind the higher amount of school funding. Rabinovitch said.

Some of the proposed cuts included funding for three, secondary-level teaching positions, eliminating middle school and freshmen athletics, reducing allocated funds for substitute teachers and custodians, eliminating positions from the middle school guidance office, and reducing the budget for copy paper and textbooks.

The district will also save money by either not filling, or hiring entry-level candidates, for positions vacated by retirements and eliminating stipends for staff who have taken on additional responsibilities.

The district was able to offset some of the shortfall with various grants and reimbursements.

Unsurprisingly, the proposed cuts raised concern among School Committee members.

"To me, we're putting kids on the street, which is absolutely the wrong thing to do," said secretary Kenneth Fontes in response to the proposed cut to middle-school and freshmen sports.

Rabinovitch suggested fundraising for sports programs.  Other cost-saving measures discussed at the meeting included double-sided printing and electronic textbooks.

But School Committee chair Robert Brousseau argued that cost-cutting alone wouldn't solve the problem.

"Like every other department in town, we don't have an expense problem, we have a revenue problem."

The School Committee will hold a public hearing and vote on the proposed budget on January 27th at 7:00 p.m. at the Wareham High School library.