Not unlike a band of students forced to attend study hall over the weekend, Santa Fe Public Schools' administrative leaders and board members were in a glum mood Saturday morning as they gathered to review Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez's Budget Advisory Committee's recommendations for cutting this year's budget.

If approved by the school board at Tuesday's 4:30 p.m. board meeting, the more than $1.5 million in cuts would include shaving funds from general transportation, substitute teacher allotments, and meal and transportation costs for athletic programs. In addition, several vacant positions will be frozen, at least one administrative employee in the superintendent's office will be laid off, and staffers who plan to retire or quit by year's end will not be replaced.

Gutierrez told the group — which included members of the advisory committee and about 20 attendees — that every effort was made to not directly impact classroom teaching. For now, she said, "We've done that."

But she warned that if some legislators' predictions that the state could be facing a $1 billion deficit by January come true, there would be more serious cuts to face come 2010.

The committee asked school principals within the district to cut 10 percent from their budget without damaging the quality of teaching. A seemingly easy choice made by many schools is to reduce supplies, though one member of the public who spoke during Saturday's session said, "That just means more money coming out of teachers' pockets."

In addition, several board members discussed the need to reconsider whether to apply for $100,000 in emergency supplemental funds appropriated by Gov. Bill Richardson for 2009/2010 to keep Alvord Elementary School open. Earlier this year, school officials suggested closing that school would save the district about $98,000. Besieged by members of the public not to close the downtown school (which is applying for magnet status), the governor offered a total of $200,000 to keep it going. About 120 students attend Alvord, according to Gutierrez.

School board president Angélica Ruiz was one of several board members who stressed that while the board was not suggesting closing Alvord, that emergency money is part of a statewide fund designed for critical financial needs, and that Santa Fe should think twice before applying for it. Consolidating the population of smaller schools within the district is still a possibility in the future, Gutierrez said after the session.

The Saturday meeting at the Educational Services Center on Alta Vista Street was the second of three public study sessions designed to discuss trimming the educational budget by roughly 1.9 percent. The third session takes place at 4 p.m. Monday, giving the board one last chance to discuss the recommendations. Gutierrez and several board members encouraged the public to attend that session to provide input.

"I'm pretty certain the board will approve the recommendations — because we do not have a lot of choices," Gutierrez said, adding that most of the cuts would take effect before year's end.

She also expressed anger at the governor for not appointing more than one educational adviser — Charles Bowyer, executive director of the National Education Association in New Mexico — to his 40-member task force on cutting the budget.

Those unable to attend the board meetings Monday and Tuesday can visit www.sfps.info and click on the SFPS TV link in the left-hand column to watch the proceedings.

Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rwnott@sfnewmexican.com.

IF YOU GO

What: Board of Education budget study session
When: 4-7 p.m. Monday
Where: Educational Services Center, 610 Alta Vista St.