MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake School District is preparing for a reduction in state education funding without knowing for certain how much money will be cut.

The state forecasts a $1.4 billion shortfall for the 2011-13 biennium and needs to reduce expenditures by more than $2 billion to balance the budget and maintain reserve funds, Gov. Chris Gregoire wrote in a letter to the State Legislature in October.

Gregoire compiled a list of alternatives she is considering including in her supplemental budget in order to reach a $2 billion reduction.

Budget alternatives include reducing education spending by increasing class sizes, reducing the school year by one week, eliminating or reducing national board certification bonuses to teachers, eliminating school bus transportation, and eliminating or reducing state levy equalization payments.

The school district is taking steps to prepare for the potential cuts, said Superintendent Michelle Price.

They are already eliminating unnecessary expenditures, she said. A principal's approval was required for every purchase order within the district. Now, each purchase order must also be approved by the district's director of business and finance. It's an effort to eliminate purchases the district doesn't need while ensuring student's needs are met, she said.

"We know that the state's in this fiscal situation ... and yet we have more students and are growing and have needs that we're going to have to be meeting in the future," said Price.

Many of the proposed reductions to education would noticeably impact the district, said Price.

One alternative calls for eliminating funding for school bus transportation. Price doesn't think that elimination will be included in the final budget, she said, but if it is, it would hinder the ability of students to get to school.

"In school districts where we have many families, who don't have the means to transport their students, it's going to be a horrific situation for our communities," she said. "We transport over 3,000 students a day right now."

Another alternative calls for eliminating or reducing bonuses for national board-certified teachers.

"We have over 50 teachers that get the national board bonus for additional certifications from the state," she said. "The state has allocated those funds out and we pay it directly to the teacher based on the state's allocation. They don't get those funds until the state has sent them to us, so if that's something that is eliminated then those teachers who are expecting that in June won't be getting it."

A list of all Gov. Gregoire's budget reduction alternatives is available at www.ofm.wa.gov/reductions/alternatives.

"We are anxious for what's going to come and yet we're going to continue trying to provide the best opportunities for our students we can," said Price.