URBANA – The Urbana school board approved $2 million in budget cuts at a special meeting Sunday evening.

The cuts will mean larger class sizes and the elimination of about 20 teaching jobs.

"The board has made every effort possible to trim where we can instead of doing wholesale eliminations," board President John Dimit said. "We tried to spread the pain of this throughout the district. There's no part of the district not affected."

Brandon Sethi, an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Urbana Middle School, is one of those feeling the pain. He's a second-year teacher, and hoped to make Urbana his home and spend his career here.

He spoke to the board Sunday on behalf of his job and his fellow new teachers, but also on behalf of their students.

"A great number of cuts will drastically affect student learning in an incredibly negative way," Sethi said, noting the cuts in teachers and educational materials.

He said it will also hurt enrollment, and he urged the board to find a creative way to make cuts with less effect on the classroom.

"We've worked very, very hard to minimize the impact on children," Dimit said after the meeting.

He said the district will still offer a quality education, noting cuts won't eliminate enrichment or fine-arts programs, outreach to families, or support for struggling students.

The board approved the $2 million in cuts on a vote of 6-0. Board member Ruth Ann Fisher abstained. She would not comment after the vote.

The cuts include: teachers at the elementary, middle school and high school levels; a high school band director; some special education positions; a middle school alternative program; two part-time nurses who dispense medication; overtime compensation; 10 percent of building budgets; textbooks at the elementary and high school levels; hall monitors at the high school; summer counseling; and a third-grade swimming program.

On Sunday, board members reviewed several other areas to see if they wanted to make adjustments. They agreed to cut the budget for the C-U One-to-One Mentoring program and the district's athletics budget each by 10 percent.

They also reduced the line item for the parent outreach coordinator by a little less than $6,000, leaving it up to administrators to decide whether to take that money from supplies or make the position slightly less than a 12-month one.

Board members also cut supplemental pay – which pays teachers who serve as class sponsors or advisers for student clubs or activities – by 10 percent each at the elementary, middle school and high school levels.

The board had previously agreed to cut its public relations position, but on Sunday it voted to keep it as a part-time position, combine it with the Web manager job and make its primary focus electronic communication.

The board also cut the budget for curriculum implementation and technology, and most of the money the district used this year to cover programs previously paid for by a state safetey block grant.

Dimit said he is concerned about what will happen next year if Gov. Pat Quinn's budget proposal – which would reduce education funding by 17 percent – stands.

"We have the greatest fear that unless things are resolved in Springfield, we'll be back here in a year from now having to do something again," he said.

Dimit said he envisions another $2 million to $3 million in cuts if some state funding is not restored, and that would likely mean closing one of the district's elementary schools.