CASTLE ROCK — They don’t have exact figures yet, but school officials here say nothing is off the table as they begin to plot budget cuts for the coming school year.

The district cut several positions two years ago when lower-than-expected enrollment left the district with a $325,000 budget shortfall. Since then officials have been conservative and have made small cuts, Superintendent Susan Barker told the school board Tuesday.

Still, based on Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget proposal, the district may have to slash about $156,000 from its budget for the 2009-10 school year. The figure could change significantly by the time a final state budget is passed, warned Erin Thompson, the district’s business manager.

Barker will meet with district administrators later this week to plan for the coming year, including determining how many classes and teachers will be needed. She is preparing to notify the teacher’s union if the staff will be cut. She also has invoked cancellation clauses in several service contracts. And she has asked staff members to let the district know if they plan to retire or resign.

Barker said she wants to give laid-off employees as much warning as possible so they can find other jobs. But, she added, that may not help given the finances of neighboring school districts.

“I don’t think there will be a teaching job to be had within 500 miles of here just based on the sheer number of teachers being laid off,” she said.

In addition to staff, every program is under review, even popular ones like having high school students serve lunch at the Castle Rock Senior Center each week, Barker said. No one wants to see the program dropped, and it doesn’t cost the district anything because the students ride a bus already carrying kindergarteners. But if program changes alter the route, the district may not be able to afford to take the high school students separately to and from the senior center, Barker said.

Board members and Barker lauded the program Tuesday, as did Senior Center president Myron Nelson. Attendance at the lunch has increased from about 30 to 50 seniors and both seniors and students alike enjoy visiting with each other, Nelson told the board.

Barker said she hopes to retain the program and added she’s sure the board will be creative in finding ways to keep it. But she stopped short of making any promises.

“It’s an excellent program,” she told Nelson. But the district needs to scrutinize programs that are “critical but not essential to the operation of the district.”