An updated $46 million budget reduction plan released by the state Department of Education eliminates some 244 positions in state and district offices while largely preserving school-level programs and staff.

Education officials yesterday released their latest budget reduction proposal, which will be considered by the state Board of Education next week. The update added about $14.5 million in cuts to a proposal with $31.5 million in cuts that was released by state Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto last week.

In total, the proposed cuts make up slightly less than 15 percent of the DOE's discretionary budget. That's still well short of $69 million in cuts for a worst-case-scenario budget plan that Gov. Linda Lingle asked the DOE to create because of the state's shaky fiscal situation.

The latest proposed budget cuts eliminate millions of dollars for staff development workshops; recruitment and retention of teachers; and student support services. Education officials said the proposal largely protects school-level positions and programs.

But they couldn't say if they could protect those jobs and programs in the more severe $69 million-in-cuts scenario.

"If we were at the point where we had to take a 20 percent budget cut, it would become more and more difficult — impossible even — not to touch the schools," said Sandy Goya, spokeswoman for the DOE.

CUTS CONCENTRATED

So far, the department has kept most of the budget cuts concentrated in state and district offices, said James Brese, DOE's chief financial officer.

The latest plan calls for cutting about 244 positions spread across state and district public school offices. That's up from 163 positions proposed last week.

The DOE has about 22,000 employees.

Brese said it is unknown what portion of the 244 positions are vacant. "With the 163, it was about a third that were vacant. We're still trying to look at exactly what the vacancy situation is," he said.

The deeper the DOE cuts, Brese said, the likelier that filled positions will be cut.

"There are more filled positions than there are vacancies," Brese said.

A major addition to the proposed budget cuts is some $3 million for teacher recruitment and retention programs.

The cut would affect about 36 workers who administer programs such as alternative teacher training, educational assistance and professional development, or who work with special education teachers.

According to the plan, the reduction could greatly hurt the DOE's ability to comply with the state's Reinventing Education Act and the state's ability to meet federal requirements to reduce the number of non-highly qualified teachers in the classroom.

The reduction could also hurt the DOE's ability to coordinate professional development programs to increase student performance in reading, math, science and social studies, education officials said.

No matter where cuts occur, the effects trickle down to the schools, education officials said.

"While the budget reductions are being kept at the state and district level, everything we do at the DOE in one way or another will affect the classroom," Goya said.

TRAINING SUFFERS

The DOE is also cutting what it spends on development workshops and training by $450,000.

"School Leadership programs are designed to prepare, support and enhance the knowledge and skills of school level administrators as they meet the demands of the federal No Child Left Behind Act," reads the budget reduction proposal.

"With reduced program funding, school level administrators will have fewer opportunities to enhance their skills and knowledge," the proposal continued.

Also included in the budget cuts are $800,000 for substitute teachers and $2.4 million for custodians. Cuts in clerical and security costs total another $2 million.

Education officials tried to put the severity of the budget cuts into perspective. The last time the DOE was asked to reduce its budget was back in the mid-1990s when the state faced a $350 million shortfall. In total, the DOE suffered $24 million in cuts.

"This level of cuts is unprecedented," said Brian Hallett, head of DOE's budget execution section.

Hallett criticized how little time the DOE got to determine its budget cuts. The governor gave the order just 20 days ago, he said.

"This isn't the preferred process to make this kind of reorganization," he said.

Lingle asked all state agencies to come up with 10 percent, 15 percent and 20 percent budget-cut scenarios for their 2009-11 discretionary budget because the slowing economy has eroded state tax revenue.

The DOE had already cut some $20 million from its budget, including $10.2 million cut by lawmakers in this year's Legislature. The BOE recently approved $9.3 million in budget cuts to meet 4 percent across-the-board reductions imposed by Lingle.