Already having made millions in budget cuts, The Washoe County School District is preparing for even more cuts that one school official said may have "catastrophic" results.

Parents, educators and students crowded the cafeteria at Wooster High School Wednesday night to hear an update on the budget from WCSD Superintendent Paul Dugan. Dugan said in addition to cuts the district has already made, more will have to be axed from the current school year's budget. Dugan said the district expects to cut between four and 11 percent from the current budget.

Dugan said he suggests tapping into a rainy-day fund to protect staff and programs from the budget ax through the end of the school year. Communications Director Steve Mulvenon said there is about $17 million in the rainy-day fund.

However, WCSD officials cautioned they are anticipating even more drastic cuts in the next budget, which begins in July. Information presented at the meeting specified the district is bracing for a budget cut between 14.5 and 30 percent.

"If we're looking at 15, to 20 to 30 percent cuts, that is draconian and that is going to have catastrophic impacts on what we do," Mulvenon told KOLO Eight News Now.

First Grade Teacher Jody Morris said educators are nervous. "New teachers, first year teachers, are nervous because they don't have tenure to keep them in jobs," Morris said.

WCSD has already implemented a hiring freeze. With positions not being filled, there is potential for larger class sizes -- one student told Dugan some classes are already large. "My science class last year, they were sitting on the counters in the back trying to do their work and trying to do tests and it's absolutely devastating to see," Theo Meek, a Wooster High School student, said.

Mulvenon said WCSD also needs $1.3 billion for new technology, new schools and repairs. WCSD's ballot question that would have raised money for the effort failed to pass. However, Mulvenon said the school district will receive about $300 million from a bond issue passed by voters in 2002.

Dugan said there will be another meeting to keep the community informed about the budget situation, but it has not yet been scheduled.