Members of the Marion School Committee say nothing is to be taken lightly with five staffing cuts to be included in the 2013 budget proposal.

During the March 27 meeting, committee Chair Brad Gordon said the proposed staffing cuts were the best-case scenario for the budget, which calls for an additional $376,762 to meet with contractual obligations, increased costs of special education and additional students attending a vocational school.

“We looked at a lot of scenarios and none of them were attractive,” Gordon said.

“None of them were without impact. Unfortunately, we have to make the choices to maintain the classroom. This is the least, worst scenario. We’re not doing this lightly.”

Under Massachusetts law, the School Committee is responsible for financing the special education services of students in need until they reach the age of 22.

In 2013, Marion will see these costs rise $294,224.

Director of student services, Terri Hamm, said increased costs change every year due to the needs of the student.

If the school district cannot provide the special education services needed for a student, the student must be sent outside of the district.

This, she said, can be expensive with the average cost being $100,000 per student.

“Because we’re such a small district when it happens, it hits us,” Hamm said.

“This is what happened this year, but we send very few children out of the district.”

To meet with these costs, Gordon, also a member of the school’s budget subcommittee, said that the proposal will cut five non-teaching positions including recess supervisor, June Schultz.

If Schultz’s position is cut next year, Sippican School Principal Lyn Rivet said that she, along with other staff members, would have to watch the children during recess.

This is something that may not provide the best care for the children, Schultz said.

“I feel the two hours a day that I work is money well spent,” Schultz said. “I always thought of my job as to keep the kids safe. I work to prevent accidents. You need two supervisors out there because you bring out the whole grade. You cannot do it alone.”

Joyce Washburn, a lunchroom assistant and monitor, said her position at Sippican School is also in jeopardy.

“I think the kids have a lot to lose,” Washburn said.

“To keep it going smoothly it does take patience. There’s a lot to deal with but a lot to lose. I think it would be shameful if that happened.”

To make up for the gaps in staffing needs, Gordon said Rivet and her staff will have to make adjustments in the way they do business day-to-day.

“What we did with more people, we’re going to have to concentrate so that we have more people in less places,” Rivet said.

The School Committee has received additional help with the budget from Marion officials including the Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee and Town Administrator Paul Dawson.

The town has offered to partially support the school’s 2013 budget with additional funds saved from other town departments.

With the help of Marion officials, Gordon said the budget subcommittee was able to lower their initial estimate of the 2013 budget from $430,763 to $376,762.

“This year we thought we were going to be in much worse shape,” Gordon said.

“Marion officials really worked closely with us to come up with the funding. We truly appreciate the help we received because otherwise there would have been much more dramatic cuts.”

Superintendent Doug White agreed.

“The town has been working diligently with us and right from the start, they have been very supportive of education,” White said.

“If they weren’t, we would have been looking at more significant changes to the way we deliver education services.”

The School Committee will vote on the budget proposal during their April 4 meeting, after which the proposal will go before May Town Meeting for approval.