SANFORD — The Sanford School Department is expected to roll out some new numbers at tonight’s budget committee meeting in response to preliminary state aid figures that aren’t as robust as expected.

The state’s figures aren’t cast in stone ”“ there’s been no vote in the Legislature ”“ but the anticipated subsidy means the school committee’s desire to restore many of the 35 positions cut in the budget crunch a year ago are dashed, according to business manager Scott Wyman.

As well, he said Wednesday, there could be deeper cuts.

Superintendent of Schools David Theoharides agreed.

In a weekly report emailed to parents and others, including the news media, Theoharides said the department had hoped to restore some of the 35 positions cut this year, mainly in the area of elementary education technicians for kindergarten and first-grade students. He said the school’s initial budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins July 1 came in about $2.7 million more than the current year, due to increases in insurance, utility costs and salaries, along with funding to restore some of the cut positions and programs.

“The lack of sufficient state subsidy will require us to reduce our budget to a much lower level,” Theoharides wrote.

The school budget presented to the budget committee March 6 was proposed at $36.3 million for the coming school year, up from $34.25 million this year. At present, the state subsidy for the next fiscal year is around $19 million, up about $70,000 from this year. But, Wyman said, the Department of Education has already said it is aware there are some glitches in some of the figures. As well, Wyman said the school department has brought more glitches to the state’s attention.

Wyman said the school subsidy was approximately $18.9 million for this year, but subsidy figures can change over the course of the year and have ”“ losing $40,000 in a recent cut. As well, the school this year faced a $500,000 contribution to the staff retirement plan, which played a role in the department’s financial picture.

The state’s subsidy figures are based on an “essential programs and services” model that next year assumes a school system Sanford’s size would have a $30 million annual budget. Wyman pointed out that EPS model was never intended to represent all of a school system’s expenses, and does not take into account adult education, food service, some sports and transportation costs and the like.

The budget committee meeting begins at 6 p.m. tonight in the council chambers on the third floor of City Hall. All meetings are public.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.