TRAVERSE CITY, MI -- While TCAPS anxiously awaits Governor Rick Snyder’s announcement about school budgets and specific changes to education reform, they're already preparing for the worst.

The district is preparing for a little less than $9-million in cuts.

At Monday night’s school board meeting, the superintendent and chief financial officer presented their recommendations to the board, and as the superintendent put it, the series of proposed cuts are the worst he has dealt with in his 29 years in the business.

TCAPS Chief Financial Officer Paul Soma says the reality is ugly.  The reduction in property taxes and a loss of students, on top of state funding that continues to decline, has caused him to propose a 10 percent budget reduction to the board.

"$8.8-million is like to the center of the earth, it is deep, deep, deep," said TCAPS superintendent Stephen Cousins.

Cousins says with this proposed cut, TCAPS will have lost $22-million in funding in the past nine years.

“We won't stop with this recommendation until we get to $8.8-million," said Cousins.

And Cousins says it's not the question of if cuts will happen, it’s where.  Soma presented his reduction recommendations, and maybe one of the biggest potential cuts in an effort to save more than $2-million is to increase class sizes by two.  This would eliminate 30 teaching positions.  The recommendation also talks about privatizing substitute teachers, eliminating nursing, privatizing coaches, cut athletics in half, get rid of security guards, reduce two counselors, fire four social workers.

The district is holding on to hope that they'll receive $5.2-million from state funding.  However, Soma made it clear; he thinks it's not a good idea to play the waiting game.

The district will have a few weeks to take a look at the recommendations and then in late-May, a decision is expected for a final budget for next year.

To learn more about the proposed budget, CLICK HERE.