WESTBROOK – The Westbrook School District could cut up to 73 faculty and staff positions in order to fill a $3.6 million budget gap for the 2011-2012 school year.

Those numbers are the latest worst case scenario figures coming from the Westbrook School Committee, which met Saturday to finish an initial examination of the proposed $33.7 million budget. The committee has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday, March 30, at 7 p.m. at the Westbrook Middle School Performing Arts Center, where it will begin deciding what must be cut from the budget.

On Saturday, documents the committee received as part of the proposed spending plan gave a breakdown of possible layoffs: 49 teaching jobs, which also include nursing, counseling and other positions that directly serve the students; 21 support staff positions; and three administrative positions.

Committee member Alex Stone said those figures represent the highest number of possible layoffs. When asked if the committee could lay off fewer than 73 district employees, Stone said, “That’s my hope.”

Interim School Superintendent Marc Gousse said the district has not factored in the impact of any upcoming retirements, which could help the committee cut fewer positions. Other factors, Gousse said, may come to light throughout the process to assist further.

“We’re trying to get a handle on this moving target,” he said.

On Monday, Dawn Ouelette, the city’s chief financial officer, provided a detailed breakdown of where the budget gap comes from. While earlier figures indicated the proposed school budget was half a million dollars smaller than the previous year’s budget, more up-to-date figures show the bottom line at $33.7 million, an increase over the 2010-2011 school budget of $667,000.

Ouelette pointed to two major factors in the hike.

First, Ouelette said, the city needs to increase the district’s budget by $300,000 as a “buffer” to cover potential future unanticipated human resources expenses, such as possible contractual buyouts, and also possible new demands made by employees on health insurance benefits. Most organizations, be they public or private, should have money set aside for these purposes, Ouelette said, but the city had not done so until now.

The other major reason for the increase is an anticipated 12.5 percent increase in health insurance premiums, Ouelette said.

The remainder of the $3.6 million budget gap comes from a loss of $2.9 million in revenues to the district compared to this year. That figure, Ouelette said, comes from a loss of $700,000 in Medicaid, as well as the loss of $933,000 that until now had been supplied by the American Reinvestment and Revitalization Act. The remainder of the loss of revenue comes from various cuts in state subsidies, she said.

At Saturday’s meeting, department heads continued presenting their respective budgets to the committee. Members asked few questions, opting instead to declare some line items would be “revisited” at the March 30 meeting. Committee members indicated that many of the revisited items represented areas where the district would have to make cuts.

“We’re going to be put to the test this year for making tough decisions,” said committee member James Violette.