The Roanoke County School Board is set to adopt a $138 million budget tonight buoyed by federal stimulus dollars but that nonetheless represents a 3.7 percent drop in spending over the current year.

The vote will cap a six-month attempt to comb through the school district's finances to rein in spending in light of the recession.

Parents and students could see class sizes increase by one or two students after a buyout offer this year trimmed the teaching ranks by about 100 employees, but Superintendent Lorraine Lange said she was working to keep the pupil-teacher ratio steady.

The school system is also not renewing the contracts of "less than 10" teachers, mostly first-year teachers in middle and high schools, according to deputy superintendent of personnel Tom Hall. School officials have said the pink slips are not related to the budget crisis but rather to a projected enrollment decline of roughly 200 students next year. The Roanoke County school system is educating 14,600 children this year and employs roughly 1,300 teachers.

Not renewing a contract "happens every year with new teachers," Hall said. "It doesn't have anything to do with the economy or the budget we're going through. It's due to numbers."

Those teachers could also be recalled over the summer to fill unexpected vacancies, officials said.

"We're working name by name with employees," Lange said. "I've got a list in front of me of people we want to hire back."

Five part-time guidance counselors have also had their contracts not renewed.

The school system will lose $7.4 million in state funding, as well as $1.7 million from county government next year. But it will see an additional $3.8 million from the stimulus package approved by Congress in February, of which $1.1 million must be used for construction. School officials have warned, though, that the federal and state education departments could place additional restrictions on how the stimulus money is to be spent. Programs for special education and low-income students will also get stimulus money through other channels.

All told, the school board is expected to approve more than $7 million in cuts.

Over the past several months, school officials have struggled to shave costs in a way that would least affect students. Besides higher class sizes, the budget calls for moving Central Middle School, an alternative middle school program in Vinton, to other middle school buildings. Administrative positions will also be combined or eliminated, and job duties are likely to change. Bent Mountain Elementary School, near the Floyd County line with an enrollment of about 60 students, will remain open, but its staff will be reduced.

The district will also hold off on buying new laptops for high school students this year, saving $1.2 million. School officials have not overlooked the small savings either: The school system will no longer produce calendars and magnets, saving $37,000, and the school system will no longer pay for board members' meals, saving $2,518.

"In light of the stress and the magnitude of the program, you could make the case that this is a remarkable budget," said school board Chairman Drew Barrineau. "It's just a daunting task, but we've been working on it since October, so we've been at it a long time."

"Just like the economic roller coaster," board member David Wymer said. "One week it looks like we're headed in one direction, then the next week it looks like we're headed in another direction. It was a little bit up and down, but overall I think we were able to stay true to what we set out to do."