As Tucson Unified School District Superintendent Roger Pfeuffer said, the last five million dollars will be the toughest. That’s the amount of money that still needs to be cut from next year’s TUSD budget.

The school board met on Tuesday, May 13, with a full plate of options before them. They discussed and then approved a plan to go to the voters on November 4^th asking for a $28 million budget override in order to be able to spend more money. The last override election in 2004 failed.

Meanwhile the board is trying to balance the budget without touching classrooms in the process. As a result they voted to raise the cost of school lunches. Other ideas on the table include increasing fees for extracurricular activities as athletics and drama, and asking employees to take two days off, unpaid.

Another idea that the board approved at the meeting is to share seven principals among 14 schools. That doesn’t sit well with office managers who say they will have to essentially act as assistant principals. The plan will save the district about $520,000.

The board will make the final decision on budget cuts this summer.