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BEAUFORT -- Anticipating more budget cuts next year, superintendent Valerie Truesdale said the Beaufort County School District might leave an unspecified number of positions unfilled to absorb a $1.9-million loss in state money since July.

She told the school board at its budget workshop Tuesday she hopes to avoid layoffs and instead reduce the number of district employees through attrition.

More than 80 percent of the district's operating budget is spent on salaries, and the district typically replaces between 150 and 200 employees each summer. Leaving some of those positions unfilled would help the district absorb cuts, Truesdale said.

"We are freezing anything and everything that isn't absolutely essential for classroom support," Truesdale said. "It's not an across-the-board hiring freeze, but we're judiciously examining every position."

She said the district already has decided to leave one position in the payroll department open after an employee left earlier this year. She did not say how many other positions could be affected.

Across the state, school budgets have been cut by $364 million this year, said Jim Foster, spokesman for the state Department of Education.

Beaufort County is better off than other districts that rely more heavily on state money, Truesdale said.

Beaufort County is the only district in the state not receiving money from the Education Finance Act, which allocates state sales tax revenue to school districts to cover the base cost of educating students. Several of the budget cuts were made to Education Finance Act allocations.

At Tuesday's workshop, board members advised the district to examine the effectiveness of all programs to make sure money is spent only on those contributing to academic progress.

"We cannot be stagnant in our improvements, in spite of the fiscal realities that are out there," chairman Fred Washington Jr. said.

Vice Chairman Bob Arundell cautioned against making cuts that will save a little money now but cost taxpayers more in the long run, such as delaying needed maintenance or dipping too far into reserve funds.

"The thing I want to be careful about ... it's very easy in a time of budget cuts to be penny-wise and dollar-foolish," he said.

Washington said his ultimate goal is to absorb cuts without asking the Beaufort County Council to increase the tax rate, but acknowledged it might not be possible.

The board will discuss a timeline for drafting its budget for the 2010 fiscal year in January and hold public meetings after a draft is released to hear public input, Arundell said.