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GREENSBORO — Guilford County Schools officials are thinking they might still have to cut hundreds of jobs next year after a meeting earlier this week with local legislators in Raleigh.

“I’m very, very concerned,” said school board member Kris Cooke.

Seven legislators told Cooke and two other county representatives that the state House budget could create as much as a $36 million budget shortfall for Guilford County.

That sum represents almost 5 percent of the district’s overall $651 million budget.

Cooke said it would be impossible to avoid further layoffs if that happens.

“The impact for North Carolina and the impact to Guilford County, it will take us backwards,” Cooke said. “I understand the money is not coming in, but you have to find money to fund education.”

The budget talks have been torturous for some teachers. Nearly 375 jobs were eliminated from the school system in the budget approved by the board earlier this month, including some unfilled positions. School officials have tentatively found jobs for most of the displaced workers.

Any sense of relief school employees might feel could be short-lived. Mark Jewell, the president of the county’s Association of Educators, estimates the House budget would eliminate as many as 400 additional jobs from the school system.

Jewell said the state association of educators is encouraging its members to lobby legislators to fully fund schools.

“If they don’t have the money then they are going to have to take the responsibility to generate the revenue to fund our schools,” Jewell said.

That almost assuredly would mean tax increases somewhere.

“They’re elected to make those tough decisions,” Jewell said.

Neither the governor’s nor the Senate budget proposals include a tax increase, and Rep. Maggie Jeffus said the House budget isn’t likely to include one either. Instead, it will likely include a proposal to increase class sizes by two students. That would eliminate as many as 6,000 teaching positions statewide.

The Senate budget includes the same proposal.

Jeffus, a former teacher, said she dreads increasing class sizes and cutting teachers.

“I don’t even know how to answer that, how disappointed I’ll be,” she said. “Ever since I’ve been (elected) I’ve advocated for smaller class sizes…but we’re doing right now a lot of things we really don’t want to do.”

Another proposed schools budget cut will get a look today when the county commissioners hold a budget work session.

The commissioners have shown early support for the school system’s $175 million operating budget request, which is no more than requested last year.

But County Manager Brenda Jones Fox proposed cutting the district’s maintenance budget from $7 million to $4 million. School officials say that cut would set back major repairs and upkeep at the schools and cost taxpayers more in the long run.

Contact J. Brian Ewing at 373-7351 or brian.ewing@news-record.com