Under a threat of cuts in state aid, local school departments are spending cautiously, if at all.

In Bridgton, School Administrative District 61 officials are reviewing planned expeditures in a number of areas to see what can be curtailed. Meanwhile, Superintendent Victoria Burns of SAD 15 in Gray-New Gloucester has ordered an immediate stop to all spending that is not genuinely and immediately needed in the classroom.

The spending curb came after Gov. John Baldacci last week told state agencies they had one week to come up with ways to cut $150 million from current state spending as state revenues fell further behind projections.

“As of right now, nothing is spent unless it is absolutely necessary to instruction or the day to day business of the schools,” said Burns, who met with administrators and finance committee members Wednesday to begin planning for potential school cuts.

“The schools should be worried,” said Sen. Joe Brannigan, D-Cumberland County, a member of the State and Local Government Committee. “It’s a very serious situation and the picture’s probably going to get worse before it gets better.”

Burns said the district is basing its decisions now on a potential 5 percent cut, which would leave the district $500,000 lighter. Out of a $21 million budget in SAD 15, $9.2 million comes from state aid.

“It’s so serious that you don’t really want to talk about it until you know for sure,” she said, adding that it is difficult to entertain drastic cuts when officials don’t know exactly what they are dealing with yet. “We just don’t know the numbers.”

The Department of Education was expected to make a final decision and submit a letter to the governor detailing cuts by Thursday, said spokesman David Connerty-Marin.

“Those curtailments will come almost exclusively from general purpose aid,” Connerty-Marin said about aid that is given to schools throughout the state to supplement their school budgets. “How this will affect each school district overall is not clear.”

The cuts will be made more severe by the fact that they will happen this year rather than in the next budget cycle, said Superintendent Suzanne Lukas of SAD 6 in Buxton, which also includes Hollis, Limington, Standish and Frye Island. SAD 6 receives $19 million in state aid out of a $40 million budget.

“Once the budget is approved, we adjust our hiring and spending totals accordingly,” she said. “We’ve already planned our year based on that budget.”

But the planning may work in the district’s favor, Lukas said. The budget was created when fuel prices were at all time highs. Now that the prices have fallen, they may be able to find some extra room in the budget, she said.

“We are hoping there might be some savings there,” said Lukas.

Otherwise, the district will have to look at expenditures, such as repairs, that can be deferred for a year or so, Lukas said.

“It’s not a pretty picture,” she said. “It’s really quite scary.”

Patrick Phillips, superintendent in SAD 61, said the cuts are not a total surprise in his district. Rising property values in the member towns of Bridgton, Naples, Casco and Sebago have led to falling state aid over the last several years. Out of the district’s $25 million budget, $3 million comes from state aid.

“We’ve been anticipating the kind of news we’ve been hearing,” Phillips said. “We’ve been on a downward slope in terms of state funding every year.”

Still, he said, the news of potential cuts has the district looking at spending for supplies, equipment, repairs and professional development, with the goal to delay or cancel spending when possible.

“We’re going to be shifting into a much more cautious stance,” Phillips said.

In SAD 15, Burns said the cuts could hurt, even when compared to past budget shortfalls.

“We’ve weathered these before, but it looks like it could be a substantial reduction,” said Burns.

Schools are not the only areas facing possible state budget cuts. Brannigan said Health and Human Services, corrections and the courts will be hit hard during the next two years.

He also said the state will need to tap into its $180 million reserves to make up for budget shortfalls.

“That looked like a lot of money at one time,” Brannigan said of the reserves. “That looks pretty anemic now.”

Baldacci said last week that he is in discussions with legislative leaders about having a special session this month to make cuts he cannot make under the budget curtailment law.

Reporter Al Edwards contributed to this story.