A total of 46 teaching, support staff and administrative positions would be eliminated in the upcoming budget, according to preliminary budget figures presented by Superintendent Sandy Prince to members of the Windham-Raymond School Committee Wednesday night.

Prince declined to get specific concerning which schools would be impacted most. He did say the preliminary budget would eliminate 6.2 percent of the overall teaching staff, 9.1 percent of the support staff and 17.7 percent of the administrative positions.

The public can attend a complete presentation on the 2010-11 budget starting Saturday, March 20 and continuing on Wednesday, March 24. A public hearing is set for March 31.

While teachers’ step increases, based on longevity, will remain, both Windham and Raymond teachers unions agreed to a total of $500,000 in salary cuts for the coming year. And both the Windham and Raymond administrators associations agreed to halt planned salary raises.

While the preliminary $36.82 million 2010-2011 budget is lower than last year’s $38.46 million budget, due to a reduced state subsidy of $1.6 million, Windham taxpayers would see a 41-cent increase in their property tax rate while Raymond homeowners would see a 59-cent decrease.

“Even though the budget has gone down for this year, there will still be a tax increase on the Windham side, given the proposed budget,” Prince said.

The discrepancy between Windham and Raymond tax impacts is partly due to how state subsidy affects each town, Assistant Superintendent Donn Davis explained.

“It can change each year. Even though we’ve merged into a district, the state still looks at communities singly, taking into account assessed property values, the number of kids in each town” as well as the number of students on free and reduced lunch, he said.

Also helping Raymond’s 2010-2011 tax burden is a $333,000 undesignated fund balance the town had going into the merger with Windham, compared with Windham’s $95,000. That money must be applied this year, Prince said.

On a $200,000 home, Prince estimated Windham homeowners could see an $82 increase while Raymond homeowners could see a $118 decrease if preliminary budget figures hold steady through the budget process.

“It’s fair to say that … we’ve never seen anything this severe,” Prince said. “The amount of positions we’re cutting will definitely impact the district, but I remain optimistic that with the quality of staff that we have, that they will continue to provide a quality education for our students.”

Despite the budget cutbacks, Prince said the district will go ahead with the planned purchase for laptops for high school students. The proposed budget calls for 300 new “Netbook” computers. Prince said the purchase is part of a three-year plan to bring laptops to the district’s 1,000 high school students.

The public presentations will be held Saturday, March 20 and Wednesday, March 24. Saturday’s meeting starts at 8:15 a.m. at the Manchester Elementary School gymnasium on Route 302 in North Windham. Wednesday’s meeting, which will cover the remaining areas of the budget not completed at Saturday’s meeting, will take place in Raymond in the gym at Raymond Elementary School on Route 85.

An additional public hearing on the budget will take place Wednesday, March 31 at 6:30 p.m. at Windham Town Hall.

During the programs, which offers discussion periods and breaks, department heads and school principals will present the specifics of their respective budgets.