Next year, the Wareham Public Schools will be working with a budget that officials say is too small, and could lead to reductions in staffing.

At Thursday’s joint meeting of the School Committee, Board of Selectmen, and Finance Committee, Superintendent Dr. Kimberly Shaver-Hood and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Andrea Schwamb presented a budget of $30,751,930, which would be an increase of 4.8 percent over last year’s budget.

Most of the increase in the budget was due to increases in salary, which are part of staff contracts.

That figure was reached after they asked principals and others to trim any excess possible, and even with those cuts, Shaver-Hood said that up to 15 staff members might lose their jobs.

“We’re very concerned,” Shaver-Hood said. “We’re desperately looking for every other possible option. The progress we’ve seen, the work that our teachers are doing, and our staff are doing, are making amazing things happen for our students, and we are looking to do anything we can to preserve that.”

The tight budget means that none of the principal’s requests for more teachers and staff will be granted, including the nurses’ request for a fourth nurse to help ease their workload and cover during absences. 

Additionally, there are no capital items included in the budget.

However, state aid is unknown, and the Legislature recently passed a bill that changes the formula used to calculate funding for districts. Shaver-Hood said that next year’s budget was calculated using an estimate that doesn’t include possible increases in state funding.

Any additional funding will be put towards staffing.