OXFORD – It’s tough to deal with less than you’ve been promised, Mark Eastman, superintendent of the Oxford Hills school district, said Wednesday in response to news that school funding is being cut.

It’s even tougher when you’re halfway through the year and your expenses are set in stone – or in labor contracts, Eastman said.

The state is trimming $27 million in school money from this fiscal year budget, which began July 1.

More cuts are coming next year.

A recession has meant less tax revenue to the state. The Maine Department of Education warned schools earlier this year that funding may be frozen next year.

Frozen funding looked good on Wednesday, compared to the cuts announced by Gov. John Baldacci.

The $27 million represents about a 2.7 percent cut; the state had budgeted $986 million for K-12 education. Districts are expected to find out Friday what the cut will mean to them in terms of dollars.

If the cut to Oxford Hills schools is 2.7 percent, that would mean a loss of $400,000, Eastman said. “I can’t go to the taxpayers. They’re in a tough situation. We will have to do this with cuts on our own,” he said. A $400,000 cut would make it difficult to avoid layoffs, he said.

For now, Eastman has ordered spending and hiring freezes and has begun to go through thousands of budget lines looking for something to ax.

If there’s any silver lining, it’s that superintendents heard rumors three weeks ago that the cut might be 5.5 percent.

In Auburn, Superintendent Tom Morrill has ordered spending and hiring freezes, has canceled travel and is scrutinizing the budget.

“We’re not only looking at this year, but next year,” Morrill said. “There is a perfect storm out there. We look at next year being as equally difficult.” There have been previous recessions and bumps, but not like the “depths of what we’re experiencing,” he said.

Morrill pledged to keep the school department’s promise of a quality education. “It is getting very, very difficult,” he said.

A 2.7 percent reduction to Auburn would mean a $450,000 loss, Morrill said. He didn’t expect to go back to the community for more money, he said. Instead, he’ll look at cost savings and other funds that may be available.

One could be the school department’s fund balance from last year, which is about $600,000, Morrill said. That number may not be the final figure because it has not been audited. Using that money would require permission from the Auburn City Council, Morrill said. But because the lean times may be around for two or more years, Morrill cautioned he would have to build a spending plan that’s sustainable.

There’s more than expected in the fund balance, he said, because last year the federal government was going to cut Medicaid funding, then ended up giving schools more.

Morrill declined to talk about layoffs. Personnel makes up 80 percent of the budget. Layoffs “would be very devastating at this time of year. It would be devastating to the community,” he said.

Efforts to reach Lewiston School Superintendent Leon Levesque Wednesday were unsuccessful. School Committee member James Handy said the cuts would mean more careful budget probing.

There willl be added pressure to find savings and make sure the educational needs of students are met, Handy said.

Until the numbers come out Friday, it would be hard to say whether Lewiston schools could live with a 2.7 percent cut, Handy said. “Even with flat-funding, costs do go up. It’s going to cause us to carefully scrutinize and see what savings we could make.”