ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : School Cut Options to Be Weighed : Finance: Irvine district officials and parents will meet tonight to discuss proposals for budget trims of up to $6 million, necessitated by the O.C. fund crisis.

Facing possible losses of $22 million because of the Orange County financial crisis, Irvine Unified School District trustees and parents will get their first chance tonight to discuss and prioritize dozens of proposed cuts, from eliminating arts and science programs and athletics to closing schools.

The cutbacks would come in the form of three plans that could trim as much as $6 million from a projected $100-million budget. Though district officials admit that some budget reductions are inevitable, many parents and district leaders have expressed reservations about adopting the most Draconian cuts.

The plans offer differing totals of cutbacks: $2 million, $4 million and $6 million.

“The $2-million list is the only list I’m interested in looking at,” said school board member Margie Wakeham. “To do more would extend the pain so much that we could not recover.”

Added school board member Michael B. Regele: “In my opinion, cutting $6 million out of ongoing operating expenses is impossible.”

The school board plans to discuss the cutbacks tonight and take final action Feb. 15. The 21,500-student district, regarded as one of the best in the state, has $105 million in the county’s collapsed investment pool, the most of any school system. Losses from the pool could amount to $22 million for the district, officials estimate.

The proposals, which were outlined in a questionnaire distributed to parents and district employees last month, suggest increasing each class size by one or two pupils, raising the prices of school meals and eliminating as many as 100 teaching and administrative positions.

The results of the survey, which asked respondents to give their opinions about the cuts, will be released tonight.

Reductions in the number of sports programs and elective classes are also mentioned in the report, as is a plan to have each elementary school principal supervise more than one campus.

Despite the grim scenarios outlined in the proposal, school board President Tom Burnham remained optimistic that basic programs can be saved.

“I believe we can maintain all existing programs,” Burnham said. “It will not be easy, it will not be fun, but it can be done.”

Still, many employees, parents and others were apprehensive about tonight’s meeting.

“It could be bad,” Irvine High School Athletic Director Rick Curtis said. “And this is just the beginning.”

Under the plan to trim $2 million, relatively mild cuts would take effect, such as reducing funding for some extracurricular activities as well as health, psychological and language services.

Athletics would take a $45,000 hit, causing the loss of 30 assistant coaching stipends--10 from each of the district high schools, Irvine, Woodbridge and University.

The $4-million reduction plan calls for elimination of administrative positions, closure of two of the district’s 32 campuses and increases in some class sizes.

Under the $6-million budget-cutting plan, all high school athletic programs might be eliminated, class sizes would be increased further and school libraries might be closed.

The proposals call on parents to contribute more money and time to the school district.

Not only would lunch prices rise under the all three plans, but parents would be asked to pay more for extracurricular sports as well as fine arts and science programs.

The plans suggest that the district reduce its budget for school supplies by as much as 10% and rely on parents and teachers to donate materials. The district could also reduce personnel in school libraries and enlist parents and community volunteers to staff them, according to the plans.

The district might also call on parents to establish car-pool programs so that some school bus service can be discontinued.

Steve Garretson, president of the Irvine Teachers Assn., said his group would fight efforts to lay off teachers or significantly reduce the length of the school day.

“When you start laying off teachers, the quality of the program suffers,” he said.

Garretson said the plan for a $2-million cutback, which calls for the elimination of 28 administrative and teaching jobs, probably won’t result in any teacher layoffs. But the $6-million plan, which calls for 100 job cuts, will certainly result in layoffs, he said.

Times staff writer Dave McKibben contributed to this report.

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Budget Paring

Irvine Unified School District has offered three budget-cutting plans in reaction to the Orange County bankruptcy. The plans will be discussed at tonight’s school board meeting. Here is a summary of the three proposals:

Teaching Classified positions positions Savings* eliminated** eliminated*** Plan 1 $2,062 28 20 Plan 2 4,196 67 23 Plan 3 6,195 100 24

* In thousands

** Includes administrative positions

*** Includes janitors, groundskeepers, receptionists, etc.

Source: Irvine Unified School District