"We are basing our budget on the information we got at (Tuesday's) meeting," Guthrie said. "It gives us a better idea of what might happen."

Guthrie and Hart district Superintendent Jaime Castellanos traveled to Santa Barbara for the May Revision Workshop presented by School Services of California. They learned that if the revised budget is passed, the Hart district will get the same amount per student in 2008-09, instead of less per student as was originally proposed.

"It looks like we're going to be able to go ahead and fund (the retroactive 3 percent raise for all employees) and there may be some discretionary money left over to restore some of the cuts," Guthrie said. "But it's all still on shaky ground."

Guthrie said no decisions can be made about restoring programs until the state budget is approved. She is concerned because Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to borrow against future lottery money to fund education.

"I'm still a little nervous, because I'm not sure how the governor is going to pull this off," she said. "But it is a better situation than his January proposal."