ALBION -- School Administrative District 49 already has encumbered a $225,000 curtailment in state funding, Superintendent Dean Baker told the board of directors on Thursday night.

Baker explained that the cut to SAD 49 is part of a $38 million reduction in state aid to education, on top of last year's $27 million reduction.

He said that all divisions within the district were advised in August of the coming situation, and that he got official word from the state Department of Education on Tuesday. Deferred purchases of equipment and supplies have filled the void, but another reduction in state aid next year might signal a tipping point. "By 2011-2012, we could go back to 2005-2006 funding levels," Baker said.

Baker elaborated on Friday. Because SAD 49 is a low-income district, he said, more than two-thirds of its budget is funded by the state.

"It has a severe impact on our budget," he said. "We could be looking at another $92 million in cuts next year. Then we'd have to start thinking about eliminating positions, both in the education and support-service sides."

The rate of decline in state revenues has surprised everyone, but is a reflection of the ongoing recession, Baker said.

"The state has seen the budget crisis coming, but no one has anticipated the power of this fiscal storm," he said.

Regarding school-district consolidation, Baker told the school board that cost savings are yet to come. "There never was $30 million to save," he said, referring to televised advertisements backing consolidation. On Tuesday, voters decided against overturning the consolidation mandated last year by the state Legislature.

Assistant Superintendent Nora Murray told directors that vaccine levels for both seasonal and H1N1 flu have held steady within the district. Between 50 and 60 percent of students at SAD 49 schools have taken one or both of the shots, Murray said.

"The seasonal flu vaccine could run short," Murray said.

Baker reported that, according to the Center for Disease Control, the efficacy rate for H1N1 shots has been 100 percent and the success rate for children has been better than 90 percent.

SAD 49 consists of Albion, Benton, Clinton and Fairfield.