"I've never seen anything compared to this," said Mike Carey, Amador County Unified School District Superintendent.

For the last few weeks he's been trying to figure out how to slice $2 million out of a $26 million dollar budget in the district. He said the district, which serves 5,000 students, has yet to recover from state budget cuts two years ago.

"Here we are again," Carey said of impending state budget cuts. "If we really lose $800 or more per student, we really should be cutting about $3.6 million. So, everything is on the table."

The district school board has seen two lists. One contains the most realistic reductions, such as laying off five teachers and reducing library, music and sports programs.

The district would save $150,000 if it continues to provide stipends for athletic coaches but axes freshman sports and stops paying for transportation, uniforms, equipment and other costs associated with other teams.

"To cut sports would be brutal," said John Adair. He is an assistant baseball coach and a football coach. "Sometimes kids go to school just because they love sports. When you take that away, it makes it challenging because they don't have anything to look forward to. And if they don't have positive things to do after school, what will they be doing?"

Music teacher Christopher Tootle knows his job is in jeopardy. "There are two and a half teachers and they want to cut one and a half," he said.

Tootle knows the district may eliminate elementary music classes. He blamed state lawmakers. "It appears to me that educating our children is not a priority. It's a crying shame that California has the seventh largest economy in the world (but) is 46th in student funding."

Parents, teachers and staff have also produced a contingency list that they want the school board to consider. Carey said it includes going to a four-day school week.

"We'd have to extend the school day by 66 minutes," Carey said. "The savings comes down to what we would save in utilities from buildings being closed and transportation. It may only come up with 30 or 40,000."

Others have suggested that corporations chip in.

"It's a nice pipe dream but the reality is we're a rural school district and there are not a lot of corporations," said Carey. "The people at the Jackson Rancheria casino are already doing their part by donating funds to athletics and other programs."

"It's sad," said band parent Dayna Fairweather. She suggested that the district administration be cut first.

"Unfortunately, those who make the decision aren't going to be willing to take a cut on theirs. So it's all just a matter of politics. Those that get hurt are the kids," said Fairweather.

Carey is well aware of how some parents feel. "They said work with no superintendent," he said. "I'm retiring at the end of the year. So maybe people look at that as a golden opportunity [to save money]."

"I've heard that another district got rid of their vice principals just to save their music program." Fairweather said. "I know it's hard. But we just have to do whatever we can to help our kids."