COOS BAY - James Moore has a sense for what the Coos Bay School District is going through. A lumber mill worker with Georgia-Pacific, Moore has seen companies shutter their operations over the years, leaving employees uncertain about their futures.

There aren't any plans to close down Marshfield High School, though it's possible some teachers will find themselves without jobs this fall.

School officials sought ideas from the public Tuesday night to balance a nearly $4 million shortfall, but there weren't too many suggestions to consider.

Moore and local businessman Steve Schneiderman were about the only people without an affiliation to the district who spoke. Schneiderman suggested the district sell the property it owns near Wal-Mart to avoid cutting teachers.

That's not something Board Member Wally Hazen wants to do, he said Tuesday. He noted that the real estate market is not favorable and the district has planned to allow the high school carpentry class to build homes on the approximately three acres of property.

Moore, who had several children go through Coos Bay schools, said the district should consider cutting wages before laying off teachers. He also suggested that principals should teach classes in addition to their administrative duties.

Instituting salary cuts is something to think about, said Superintendent Bob De La Vergne, but that can't happen without union approval.

"The only unilateral authority we have is to lay off staff," he said.

One proposal presented by De La Vergne has the district shedding 16 teaching positions next fall, including seven at Marshfield High School.

That's going to raise the average class size to 37 students, said teacher Kathy Danielson, chairwoman of the science department at Marshfield High School.

"That's a nightmare for science," she said.

Danielson said there will be lab assignments that will be eliminated because there will be too many students to do them safely.

The projected staff cuts have already gotten several teachers searching for jobs elsewhere, said Jonathan Hill, a Marshfield science teacher. He said teachers want to know the district's plans for next year so they can make plans of their own if they find themselves unemployed.

Business manager Rod Danielson said the problem is that the district won't know how much money it will get next year until the May forecast comes out. 

"They don't know much more than we do," he said.

The worst-case scenario the district is considering would leave the district with a $3.7 million budget shortfall, not including $300,000 in carryover from this year.

De La Vergne said district administrators would meet today to discuss layoffs and program cuts. That includes a proposal to cut $250,000 from the athletic department budget.

Athletic Director Greg Mulkey said he wants to avoid eliminating programs, though he hasn't finalized plans to reach De La Vergne's goal.

One idea is to cut coaches or ask them to take pay cuts. Other cost-saving measures include reducing the length of sports seasons, only sending varsity teams for road games and playing multiple games per trip.

"The ultimate goal is to try to maintain as many programs as possible," he said, referring to both sports and elective classes.

He said he would like to keep the Sunset Middle School athletic program, though other schools, including Coquille and Siuslaw, are talking about eliminating those programs entirely.