On top of the 85 mostly teaching positions the St. Vrain Valley School District cut in the spring, another eight administrative positions have been eliminated, and officials said the “depleted” district will resort to desperate measures if it doesn’t get financial help.

Should voters reject a proposed bond initiative and mill-levy override in November, officials for the Longmont-based district said they’ll consider adding student-bus fees, eliminating schools and cutting curricula.

“If it doesn’t pass in November, we will be balancing our budget through layoffs,” district spokesman John Poynton said.

With the rising prices of food, fuel, electricity and other necessities, Poynton said, “There’s no other place to go for the money.”

“There are only so many lights you can turn off,” he said.

A St. Vrain Valley task force in April suggested the district ask voters to approve a $210.9 million bond issue for capital-improvement projects — including expanding security systems in all the district’s 47 schools. The group also recommended the school board ask voters for a $14.6 million mill-levy override to supplement the district’s general fund and help pay salaries and upgrade technology.

Those numbers aren’t firm, and district officials said the proposed bond issue could end up below $200 million and the proposed mill-levy measure might increase to somewhere between $16 million and $17 million.

Money from the mill-levy and bond proposals would be distributed mostly at the classroom and teacher level, Poynton said.

Superintendent Randy Zila, who’s been leading St. Vrain Valley for six years, announced in June that he’s stepping down, and Deputy Superintendent Don Haddad will be working with Zila to take over after the 2008-09 school year.

Poynton said St. Vrain Valley is “very thin on top,” with the loss of eight administrative positions through attrition. Haddad said a smaller leadership group can work — even though an independent analysis of the school district called St. Vrain Valley “beyond lean” and “depleted” at the administrative level.

“We don’t have all the layers, but that’s a source of pride for us,” Haddad said. “We’ve learned that there were a lot of positions that probably weren’t as necessary as we once thought they were.”

Still, Haddad said, the district needs millions to save it from making significant changes in the 2008-09 school year and beyond.

“We don’t want to go any lower because we are at a breaking point,” he said. “We have 85 percent of our budget tied up in salaries, and when we’re looking for chunks of money, that’s where it’s coming from.”

Haddad said administrators have considered implementing a monthly bus fee to cover rising fuel prices if voters reject the measures this fall. They also might consolidate high schools, merge elementary and middle schools into K-8 buildings and increase class sizes.

“We’ll be exploring all the options,” Haddad said.

When students arrive back for classes in August, many of them will notice fewer language classes, art courses and music programs, Haddad said. Heritage Middle School no longer has a French class, Lyons Middle/Senior High School has lost its choir and Niwot High School’s world language program was cut.

“People often say, ‘Why do the arts and music get cut?’” Haddad said. “It’s because of the accountability. With No Child Left Behind, you can’t cut math.”