More than a dozen Orchard Park School District positions would be cut under a preliminary budget being reviewed by the School Board.

Some of the cuts would be made through attrition, such as retirements, Assistant Superintendent for Business Jeffrey Petrus said.

“We are still discussing which exact positions those would be,” he said, adding that the district does not want employees to hear they could be losing their jobs before district officials have had a chance to tell them.

The possible staff reductions were detailed at a budget presentation to the School Board last week. A net of one administrator, three teachers and 9.5 support staff positions would be reduced.

The board plans to get more details at next Wednesday’s meeting.

The budget referendum is in May, but still to be decided is if residents will vote the same day on a proposal to move the bus garage to Southwestern Boulevard.

Residents of Hazel Court vehemently objected to the move at a meeting Monday night, citing increased traffic and concerns about diesel fumes from district buses blowing over their neighborhood.

The district is waiting to learn how much state building aid could be used to purchase and renovate the Sahlem Roofing building for district offices and the transportation department. Officials have said they would not make the move if it does not make sense financially.

While general state aid is projected to be down by 5 percent statewide this year, the district’s state aid would go down by $2.48 million, or 11.39 percent. If the district kept the same staffing levels next year, there would be a double-digit increase in the tax levy, officials said.

With the staffing reductions, the first draft of the budget contains an increase of about 8 percent in the tax levy. Petrus said it is difficult to estimate a tax rate because town assessors have not given the district estimates of what the new assessments might be.

“I don’t want to even guess right now,” he said.

“The board still has to give us directions — do they want further cuts?” Petrus said.

This draft of the budget keeps class sizes within the School Board’s guidelines and does not reduce programs while providing a safe, secure and healthy learning environment, he said.

The budget draft totals $80.48 million, up 3.86 percent, or $2.98 million over the current budget.

The district is facing an increase of $1.84 million in contractual obligations and $2.37 million in health insurance, retirement system and special-education costs, Petrus said.