WESTBROOK – With a referendum on the 2011-2012 school budget less than a week away, it’s decision time for Westbrook voters on whether they will approve a 2.1 percent budget increase over the 2010-2011 budget.

Voting is Tuesday, June 7, with polls open from 7 a.m,-8 p.m.

Even if the $30.7 million budget passes, massive cuts in state and federal money to the district means six teachers and seven support staffers will lose their jobs, to say nothing of the cuts in programs the district will have to weather.

The city has already approved a $24.2 million municipal spending plan, which will cause a 26-cent tax increase. That translates into a $49.01 annual increase for the owner of a $190,000 home.

The school budget as proposed would prompt an additional 37-cent hike, which would add $70.97 more to the owner of that $190,000 home.

The budget is the end result of the district’s battle with a $3.7 million shortfall caused largely by losses in funding from the state and federal governments. In the end, the district and school committee managed to cut more than $2.8 million from the original gap, whittling the increase to just over $690,000.

Interim School Superintendent Marc Gousse said this week that the budget is the district’s best attempt at balancing the needs of the children with the demands of a brutal economy on the taxpayer.

“Nothing’s ever perfect, but it is a good, fiscally responsible budget,” Gousse said.

The budget has passed through numerous revisions by the finance committee, then the full school committee. It also passed the City Council, and if the public votes to confirm it, will mark the end of a long and emotional budget season for the district.

In the weeks following the council’s decision to pass the budget, Gousse has been shaking hands and talking to anyone who will listen about the budget and what it means, both for the public and the schools. Gousse said he naturally hopes the public will vote for the budget, but has taken pains not to sway opinions. His purpose, he said this week, is to make the public aware of what’s at stake, and why.

“I can’t tell people how to vote,” he said. “I walk a fine line.”

Gousse has met with groups of concerned parents, gone door to door to talk to as many local residents he could find, and even stopped by the local coffee shop to chat with the morning regulars about the budget.

“Everybody’s been very pleasant,” Gousse said.

School Committee Chairman Ed Symbol said in a past interview that plenty of people have spoken to him privately, saying they did not support the budget as it stands. Gousse also acknowledged that there are plenty of people out there who do not support the increase.

“I have not heard anybody say that yet, but I’m sure those people are out there,” he said.