Local school budget writers will have to sharpen their pencils extra hard during the next few months. They're tasked with finding ways to manage the loss of a significant chunk of state funds as lawmakers plan to slash Idaho's public schools budget by $128 million for the next fiscal year.

The Coeur d'Alene district will have to cut roughly $4.8 million from its 2011 budget, Post Falls will lose about $2 million and Lakeland $1.6 million.

Districts must have proposals to the state by late May, and officials say all options, including slicing programs, benefits and teacher pay, will be on the table.

"It's a big number," Post Falls Superintendent Jerry Keane said. "We have lots to talk about. It will be a challenge for sure. I don't think it's possible to cut that kind of money without looking at salaries, benefits or personnel. You just can't get there."

Keane said that, with the recession, legislators had a difficult decision to make, but it wasn't a surprise. The proposed cutback is especially hard because it comes on the heels of hefty cuts this year, he said.

On a positive note, legislators are open to providing more flexibility with the funding districts do get, Keane said. For example, transportation funding can likely be used in other areas if it's not spent on transportation.

"In years past, there was not that flexibility," Keane said.

For districts experiencing growth in student enrollment, budgets will be pared by 7.5 percent.

In Coeur d'Alene and other districts around the state where student populations are not growing, superintendents are calculating an 8.5 percent reduction.

"We are working collaboratively with directors and principals and the CEA (Coeur d'Alene Education Association) leadership, and I'm confident that we will come up with some solutions," Coeur d'Alene Superintendent Hazel Bauman said.

The Coeur d'Alene district's projected loss includes $800,000 due to an anticipated loss of 126 student enrollments next year, Bauman said.

Fewer students means a reduction in state funding for teacher salaries, so the district will need to reduce its teaching staff by nearly 13.

"We're hoping we can do that through attrition," Bauman said.

They are planning to reduce administrative staff at the district office and in the schools, she said, and will likely reduce support staff.

Tom Taggart, Lakeland's finance director, said he believes that district doesn't have any jobs it can do without. So the district may have to look at less contract days for teachers.

He said legislators have done what they can to this point to protect education as much as possible.

"There just isn't enough money to go around," Taggart said. "We're going to have to start dealing with what other state agencies have already been through."