WESTBROOK – A group of mostly teachers and staff members of the Westbrook School Department took to the podium at a public hearing Wednesday night to plea for programs and, in some cases, their jobs, which they fear will be lost as the school department wrestles with a $3.7 million budget gap.

“We have the smallest department except for art,” said Debbie Henry, who works for the wellness department at the high school, where she said two positions may be lost.

The meeting was a public hearing put on by the school board’s finance committee, represented at the hearing by Alex Stone, James Violette, and Mary Hall. Interim School Superintendent Marc Gousse and other finance committee members, along with school district department heads, were also on hand.

The meeting was held at the Westbrook Middle School Performing Arts Center, Stone said, in anticipation of a huge crowd, but only about 150 people filled less than a quarter of the room, prompting Stone to continue the hearing until April 6, even after everyone who wanted to speak had had their say.

“I want (more) parents here,” Stone said after the hearing. “I want to hear from parents.”

At issue is a collection of programs and positions throughout the district, casually referred to by the district and members of the audience as “the list.” The list was released along with the agenda for the public hearing, under the heading “FY 2011-2012 Proposed Budget-Recommendations for Revisitation.”

The list includes line items from individual department budgets marked for revisitation, or further discussion and possible elimination, at two school committee meetings held last month. Among the suggested cuts are multiple cuts to the athletic department of the middle school, all high school freshman-level sports, the entire high school hockey program, and more than 60 positions throughout the district, including nursing, counselors, and teaching positions.

While there is potential for everything on the list to be cut, Gousse, speaking with reporters after the hearing last night, stressed that the list as it stands is nothing more than a snapshot of what the district is considering for cuts right now. It is entirely possible, he said, that by the time the school board meets April 27 to adopt the final version of the budget, and present it to the City Council for approval, that the list may change. There may be new suggested cuts added to the list, he said, or things may be taken away. It is simply too soon to tell, he said, just what will be lost.

“The entire budget is ‘the list,'” he said.

School committee members have said, however, that deep budget cuts and layoffs will be an inevitable consequence of closing the gap. At last night’s hearing, a parade of teachers, nurses, counselors and other staff members voiced fears to the committee that the district will be gutted to make up the losses.

Pat Donovan, a nurse at the high school, was concerned about nursing staff losses leading to “floating” nurses moving from building to building. That, she said, is unacceptable if a medical emergency happens.

“Quick nursing assessment can only happen if the nurse is on site,” she said.

Michelle Higgins, a middle school physical education teacher, told the committee her position is on the list. Losing physical education, she said, will deny students lessons in leadership and confidence building that they can’t get in the classroom.

“We teach things in our class that can’t be learned from a book,” she said.

Gloria Noyes, a fifth-grade teacher at Congin Elementary School, was one of many teachers who told the committee they were worried a loss in teaching staff would lead to larger class sizes.

“We’ll persevere and make it work if we have to, but it’s a tough place to go,” she said.

Bruce Dyer, a substance abuse counselor for the district, implored the district not cut into support programs for students with substance abuse problems who might “fall through the cracks” without the programs to help them stay motivated to stay in school.

“For many of these kids, school is not a priority,” he said.

While a majority of the speakers were employees of the district, some parents and students also spoke. Steve Webster, a parent, said he has lived in Westbrook most of his life, and stuck up for the teachers and staff of the district.

“Their value should not, and it cannot be understated,” he said.

Webster pointed to one of the varsity hockey coaches, who was in the audience, and told the committee how valuable that coach had been to Webster’s son.

“He taught him to reach beyond what he thought his own boundaries were,” he said.

Kallie Cyr, a fifth-grader in the district, suggested the district consider turning down the heat in all the buildings by a few degrees to save money. She also pleaded for the district not to lay off anyone.

“Whatever you do, please, please find a way to raise money without cutting any of our teachers, nurses and staff. I love them all,” she said.

During the hearing, between speakers, Stone pointed out that cuts were inevitable, since without them, the tax rate in the city would have to go up 10 percent to cover the gap. That means, he said, that a home worth $200,000 would see a $372 tax increase.

Joanne Dowd, of 37 Myrtle Street, told the committee she had a kindergartner in the district, and was one of several parents who said the potential tax hike didn’t scare them.

“I’m actually willing to pay more taxes,” she said, which drew applause from the audience. “I will pay more taxes if it means that more of these wonderful educators can keep their jobs.”

Stone said the initial plan was to cut the hearing off at 10 p.m. and, if necessary, continue it to April 6. With no further speakers stepping forward by 9:20, Stone declared the hearing closed. The committee was supposed to begin discussing the list of revisited items in detail, possibly making some decisions on cuts to recommend to the full school board, when an unidentified woman in the back of the room asked Stone if there would be any more public hearings.

When Stone said none were planned, the speaker protested that not enough members of the public know what is at stake, and with the current list of suggested cuts now released, more people were likely to show up at another hearing.

Stone decided, then, to table further discussion of the budget until April 6, when the public will once again have a chance to speak.

“I really want to hear from the public,” he said, which drew applause from the audience.