With the state facing a projected $900 million budget shortfall by 2011, education officials are considering some of the most severe cuts to public schools in recent memory.

Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto on Wednesday will address schools and communities via a live broadcast about the budget reductions newly imposed on the state Department of Education.

That same day, Hamamoto is expected to unveil a proposed plan to provide up to $69 million in budget cuts in 2009-2011. That plan will most likely include scenarios that reduce staff, education officials said yesterday.

"I don't want to affect the classrooms, but there is no guarantee that even that can be prevented," said Donna Ikeda, chairwoman of the state Board of Education.

"When we're talking about this much money, it's hard to do it without talking about warm bodies," Ikeda said.

Gov. Linda Lingle has asked all state departments to begin planning for 10 percent, 15 percent and 20 percent reductions in their general fund budget in 2009-2011 because the state is projected to be more than $900 million in the red.

For the DOE, that means cuts could range from $30.7 million up to $69 million.

The DOE has 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.

WORSE THAN IN '90S

Board of Education Vice Chairwoman Karen Knudsen said that in the past, the DOE has had to plan for possible budget shortfalls, most recently in the mid-'90s during former Gov. Ben Cayetano's administration.

"We've had to go through these scenarios in the past, but with the volatility of Wall Street and the economy ... this is probably the most worrisome I've experienced," said longtime Board of Education member Knudsen.

Ikeda, a former state senator, said this is the most "drastic" budget situation that she's seen in her DOE experience.

In the mid-'90s when she was chairwoman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, Ikeda said, the state faced a $350 million deficit.

"We spared education as much as possible," Ikeda said, acknowledging that the situation "wasn't as severe as this."

So far, education officials are not talking specifically about what areas of the DOE's $2.34 billion budget may be cut. But officials are speculating that the various budget scenarios will almost certainly include staff reductions.

"Classroom teachers perhaps not, but other teaching positions like resource teachers could be affected," Ikeda said.

She cautioned, however, that the DOE is being asked by the governor to formulate scenarios for cutting the budget, and that nothing is set in stone.

"It's too early to tell. We have the figures, we know what we're up against, but we don't know all the details just yet," Ikeda said.

PRESCHOOL THREATENED

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

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 in order to begin developing a state-wide preschool system.

Daniel Hamada, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and student support, said he was disappointed that those funds were cut from DOE's budget.

"The point was to develop the preschool system. Now it's in the air," Hamada said.

He said the cut doesn't mean that the council will be disbanded, but it does mean that it won't have administrative staff, supplies and coordinators.

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.

DOE Budget Director Adelle Chong said the department is formulating its budget cut scenarios with the goal of not affecting core academics. However, she pointed out that the bulk of DOE's budget is in salaries and benefits, meaning it would be difficult to create budget cut scenarios that didn't include staff reductions.

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

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