Faced with the most drastic budget cuts ever to the state's public education system, the Board of Education approved a plan yesterday that includes about $117 million in yet-to-be negotiated labor savings — from potential pay cuts to furloughs of teachers and administrators.

The plan, which trims a total of $227 million from the $1.8 billion school system budget, includes a 5 percent across-the-board cut to school-level programs, a reduction of part-time workers and slashing of school-level funding.

Several board members said the plan is certain to have repercussions on teaching and learning.

"There is nobody in this room who wants to do what we're about to do. But the fiscal reality is such that we have to do this," said board member John Penebacker.

While few educators welcome the cuts, they were pleased that the budget was finally approved, allowing them to move forward with planning for the school year.

How to get the $117.4 million in labor savings will be determined through ongoing contract negotiations.

Labor unions — including the Hawaii State Teachers Association — are expected to meet with education officials and state negotiators in another round of talks on Monday, said HSTA President Will Okabe.

Schools are likely to receive at least $35 less per student next year under the budget reduction plan. That's because it includes a cut to the so-called Weighted Student Formula, the department's method of allocating money to schools, of about $8 million.

About $1 billion currently gets distributed among the schools under the spending formula.

Board member Breene Harimoto tried unsuccessfully to get education officials to reconsider cutting from direct-to-school funds.

"The fact of the matter is that schools have been directly affected, we all know that. The schools are dying," Harimoto said.

"I would suggest that we not reduce their budgets any further."

But Superintendent Pat Hamamoto said budget officials have cut as much as they could from state and complex level administration.

"We have gone through our budget, really scrubbed it," Hamamoto said. "The reality is, anything we do from this point on will impact the schools."

The budget reductions also include about $40 million in nonschool-level funding cuts approved by the board in October, about $16 million through a 5 percent cut in school supplies and equipment and about $630,000 in savings from the closure of Wailupe Valley School.