"It would mean significant and drastic cuts in our elementary schools and major programs or going to the city manager," she said. "And I was uncomfortable with both of those."

D'Alessandro said she is finding "creative" ways to deal with the funding issue by seeking donated services from local businesses and using district personnel to oversee the rearranging of the school over the summer, rather than using outside contractors.

Too Many People, Too Few Dollars

While a $450,000 shortfall may seem inconsequential in the large picture of the $106 million budget, it would represents a third of the new spending for the entire school district.

Though this year's budget is larger than last year's by nearly $4 million--a 3.7 percent increase--D'Alessandro's proposal adds just $1.1 million in new programs, including the $274,000 already allocated for teacher training at the high school.

Instead, most of the $4 million in D'Alessandro's school budget will be spent on higher salaries to maintain existing programs at their current level Nearly three-quarters of the entire budget will pay teacher and administrator salaries.

One of the biggest funding increases is in special needs programs, where more than $250,000 will be added, mostly to pay for aides to help elementary school teachers include special needs students in their regular classrooms.

However, D'Alessandro's plan also reduces a full-time learning disabilities administrator to a part-time position.