The state Department of Education proposed $31.5 million in budget cuts yesterday that would eliminate resource teachers, support staff and tutoring positions as well as reducing funding for athletics, but leave school-level programs largely untouched.

State Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto laid out the proposed cuts in a live televised presentation yesterday.

"We are going through a fiscal situation. It's not a crisis, yet," Hamamoto said. "These are hard times, and it's painful."

Her proposed cuts would trim 10 percent from the DOE's discretionary budget, which is a small part of the agency's total annual budget of nearly $2.4 billion.

Hamamoto did not offer a plan for cuts beyond 10 percent of the discretionary budget. Gov. Linda Lingle requested all state agencies come up with 10 percent, 15 percent and 20 percent budget cut scenarios for their 2009-11 discretionary budget because the state's slowing economy has eroded tax revenue.

To reach the 20 percent mark, education officials must cut some $69 million.

Hamamoto's $31.5 million budget cut proposal yesterday largely protects school-level positions and programs. But education officials said they were not certain that would continue to be the case as the department works toward a deeper, more severe budget cut scenario.

"The targets we have from the governor are even higher," said Adelle Chong, DOE budget director. "The board didn't want us to touch schools ... but most of the money we have is at the school level."

$800K FROM ATHLETICS

Hamamoto's plan calls for cutting about 165 positions spread across state and district public school offices. The DOE has about 22,000 employees.

The proposal includes eliminating numerous vacant administrative positions. For instance, Hamamoto proposed cutting about $215,000 in teacher reserve positions that are vacant.

Despite vocal opposition to proposed athletics cuts in August, the DOE is also proposing cutting some $800,000 from the the public school athletics budget. During Hamamoto's live remarks, she explained that athletic directors across the state collaborated to figure out areas within the budget that could be trimmed.

The athletics cuts are largely for supplies and equipment. Hamamoto is also proposing cutting the athletic transportation budget by more than $300,000.

The budget cut proposal also includes an elimination of the DOE's Peer Education Program, a program taught by trained educators who teach students to help other students deal with health and social problems.

Nearly $1 million in cuts will come from the peer education program, including the elimination of 15 teaching positions and two support staff.

DOE officials said that if schools would like to keep their peer education program, principals and school community councils can fund it through the school's individual "weighted student formula" budget.

IMPACT ON STUDENTS

So what could this budget cut mean for the average student?

"There might not be a tutor for her, or the tutor may be part-time," Hamamoto said. "Much of the equipment and supplies ... may not be there for her or readily available," she said.

Where possible, the DOE is trimming supplies and equipment, not programs.

For example, the DOE plans to cut some $643,000 at nine alternative learning centers across the state, which help to educate at-risk students. Daniel Hamada, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and support services, said the cut doesn't mean that the alternative learning programs are being eliminated.

"The intent was take away as much from these 'B and C funds' (supplies and equipment) and preserve the school learning," Hamada said.

Still, some of the money being trimmed represents funds that are used to pay for hourly employees at these learning centers.

About $1.6 million for speech pathologists, occupational therapists and physical therapists also is on the chopping block. That includes about 25 vacant positions.

Hamada pointed out that those cuts only represent a portion of those services. The DOE spends about $20 million a year on speech pathologists.

"What state Special Education is going to do is work with complex areas, and their job is to monitor if additional support is needed," he said.

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

FOCUS ON EFFICIENCY

Hamamoto said the state's fiscal situation is an opportunity for the DOE to begin to become "more efficient and more streamlined" in the way it delivers educational services.

While the DOE has a total budget of $2.4 billion, not all of the money is considered to be discretionary funding, Hamamoto said.

"The amount of money that is actually touchable is very limited because of the fixed costs — transportation, electricity, gas, water. We also have to factor in what we have to do by law," Hamamoto said.

About 73 percent of the Department of Education budget is in salaries and fringe benefits. Another 26 percent is in supplies and other expenses, such as electricity costs, student transportation, food service, special education and testing contracts.

The BOE has also requested that the department not cut from the school level — teachers, counselors and principals — which accounts for nearly $800 million.

"The board has made it very clear that we are not going to touch schools until we have gone through all the programs in the system, all of the offices, and ensured that we have gone as deep as we can without crippling our services," Hamamoto said.

The department has also been notified of about $5.7 million that has already been removed from its budget by the state Department of Budget and Finance.

SOME CUTS MANDATORY

Included in those mandatory cuts was $1 million appropriated for early-childhood education and the state's newly formed Early Learning Council, approved by lawmakers last session to begin developing a statewide preschool system.

Other mandatory cuts taken from the DOE's budget included nearly $2 million for equipment, $1.2 million in technology upgrades, a $460,000 grant for the Hawai'i 3Rs program as well as $750,000 for furniture at new facilities.

In addition to budget restrictions, the governor has placed a hiring freeze on all current and future vacancies. The DOE is seeking a waiver from the governor to address the possibility of turnover at the school level.