AUBURN – School officials in Auburn leaped into the budget season Wednesday, unveiling a $34.6 million budget with guesses in place of revenues.

“There are huge question marks right now,” said Tom Morrill, Auburn’s school superintendent. “We don’t know how much money we’re getting.”

The problem goes up the school funding food chain to Augusta and Washington. The state is trying to finish its calculations that will spread millions in aid money to Maine’s schools. The federal government is also deciding how much money it will send here and what kind of strings will be attached.

Meanwhile, budget deadlines loom.

The calendar calls for the School Committee to spend the whole day on March 28 on the budget and finish its work by April 15. The City Council is due to approve a school budget 12 days later and send it to a citywide referendum on May 5.

Other school districts, including Lewiston’s, have put off releasing overall numbers even as they begin dissecting the small budget details of each school and office.

Morrill said Wednesday he could wait no longer, patting a just-printed stack of 100 or so pages. But he cautioned against getting too attached to his figures.

“This is a working, living document,” he said. “It will be massaged and added to and taken from.”

As it stands, the budget would boost spending by $420,246, an increase of 1.23 percent.

It includes no new programs and eliminates three positions: half positions among secretaries and custodians, one education technician and one crossing guard. The proposal would lay off one person.

Last year’s budget cut 16.5 positions, of which 9.5 were actual layoffs.

Other changes this year include about $100,000 in savings by changing over the heating system in several schools to duel natural gas-fuel oil boilers, allowing the schools to take advantage of falling oil prices.

“We have peeled away layers of staffing over the past six years” Morrill said. “That’s beginning to take its toll.”

Under pressure to keep taxes as low as possible, he worries that the effectiveness of Auburn’s schools may wane.

“That’s the tension point,” he said.

Wished-for changes such as expanded pre-kindergarten, foreign language instruction in elementary schools and additional time for professional development, particularly in the higher grades, were jettisoned with the demand to keep down spending.

“People understand this is not business as usual,” Morrill said.

School Committee Chairman David Das said the tough line may be necessary, given the economy. Yet, he hopes the changes will not dampen the morale of teachers.

“Our responsibility is to deliver the education children deserve and need,” Das said.

The state funding figures could make the job more difficult, especially if funding dips. Last year, the state allocated $17.8 million to Auburn schools.

The budget proposal assumes that funding remains the same.

“We hope to have a lot more information in two weeks,” said Jude Cyr, the business manager for Auburn schools.