MANCHESTER — Now that aldermen have appropriated $152 million to the Manchester School District, the school board has the task of deciding how it will be spent.

The Board of School Committee is scheduled to discuss the district’s fiscal year 2013 budget tonight at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

Earlier this year, the board voted to lay off 161 employees and leave open all vacancies. Board members said Tuesday they will look to Superintendent Thomas Brennan for recommendations as to which positions should be maintained. Committee member John Avard said last week he has a list of priorities he will bring to the meeting, but wants to hear from Brennan.

“It’s easy for us to say we want this restored and that restored, but we need to get the final numbers,” Avard said.

Committee Vice Chairman Dave Gelinas said after meeting with Brennan Monday, he knows many of the cuts the superintendent is likely to recommend are ideas he’s already proposed.

“Technically we’ve already done the biggest chunk of savings when the board voted on the (layoffs). Based on what the aldermen gave us, where do we now restore positions with the money they gave,” Gelinas said.

According to numbers provided by school officials last week, the school district is currently projecting 197 open positions next year, including retirements, vacancies, layoffs and staff asked not to return. Of those, 168 are teachers. Officials said there is about $2 million in the budget the aldermen gave the school district that could be used for staff, leaving the schools with approximately 150 open positions.

Gelinas said he is planning to bring forward a proposal to use an additional $2 million of the district’s expendable trusts on staff. Although the board previously voted down proposals to spend these funds set aside for unexpected costs, Gelinas said he thinks there may be a willingness to do so now.

The reason most board members didn’t want to talk about the trusts the last time the board met was because the Board of Mayor and Aldermen had not yet voted on a final school budget number, Gelinas said. By using about half the remaining trust funds, the district can fill about 40 staff positions, he said.

Whether these are elementary school teachers, assistant principals or other staff will be largely influenced by Brennan’s recommendations, Gelinas said.

Committee members such as Arthur Beaudry, Chris Stewart and Mayor Ted Gatsas have been outspoken about ending the use of one-time money from various trust funds and surplus accounts to fund ongoing costs, such as teacher salaries. Gelinas said he doesn’t view the expendable trusts as one-time money, since these funds have been a resource for the school board for years.

“When the aldermen approved (creating) the expendable trusts, it was never with the intention to have the money just sit there and not do anything,” said Gelinas. “If it’s there, we use them and use them wisely.”

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Beth LaMontagne Hall may be reached at bhall@unionleader.com.