Utah education leaders are preparing for the worst when it comes to budget cuts.

State Superintendent Patti Harrington said Thursday her office is eliminating a tuition reimbursement program for employees, will offer early retirement incentives for staff and might have to lose 15 to 45 people depending on how much lawmakers cut. State Board of Education members on Thursday also approved guidelines for school districts to follow, possibly this year and in the future, when it comes to making major unexpected cuts.

Lawmakers voted during a special session in the fall to hold education harmless for this fiscal year. But in the face of widening budgetary gaps, legislative leaders have urged a 7 1/2 percent cut to education by June 30. The education appropriations subcommittee will meet Monday to begin discussing strategies.

Rep. Merlynn Newbold, R-South Jordan, who co-chairs that committee, said it is unlikely lawmakers will continue to spare education this fiscal year.

"It just becomes increasingly difficult without annihilating every other department in the state," Newbold said.

But the committee's other co-chair, Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, said cuts to education in general likely still won't be as deep as to other programs. However, the State Office of Education will likely endure the same depth of cuts as other agencies, he said.

Greg Haws, a State Board of Education member, noted that cuts to education this fiscal year would be especially hard on schools because the fiscal year is already nearly half over.

"A 7 1/2 percent reduction in a half a year budget actually turns out to be a 15 percent reduction," Haws said.

In guidelines intended to help districts in making possible cuts, the board urged districts to look at basic school programs and specific, individually funded programs.

Several board members expressed fear that school districts might just try to cut individually funded programs, angering lawmakers who created them.

"If the local districts only cut specific line items, then we're poking our fingers in [lawmakers'] eyes," said board member David Thomas. He feared that cutting programs that way would lead to backlashes by lawmakers. The guidelines also recommend that if districts must make cuts in future years because of insufficient revenue they would, in some cases, need permission from a State Board of Education committee consisting of board members and lawmakers, depending on what they wanted to cut. They would only need permission if they wanted to make cuts that weren't fairly divided between general education money and individually funded programs.

The board's recommendations for this fiscal year, however, all hinge on lawmakers' interpretation of a law that would give districts enormous discretion when it comes to making cuts. That law is effective only when districts are forced to make cuts because of insufficient revenues at the state level.

Todd Hauber, state associate superintendent, said legislative counsel is now studying whether the law might apply this fiscal year. He said it might become an issue of semantics.

Juab School District Superintendent Kirk Wright , who attended Thursday's meeting, said he hopes districts are given maximum flexibility.

"If a 7 percent reduction takes place for the current fiscal year, that really will be a serious situation for most districts," Wright said. "I still think for most districts, flexibility is the best way."