Baltimore schools chief Carmen V. Russo said yesterday that fewer Baltimore schoolchildren might be going to summer school this year and that administrative staff would likely face furloughs to help cope with a multimillion-dollar deficit.

Russo outlined those and other possible remedies for the system's worsening financial situation - which led to the layoff last week of several hundred temporary employees - during an emergency hearing in front of members of the City Council.

"We are going to try ... to put in place solutions that will have as little effect as possible on our classrooms," Russo told Council President Sheila Dixon and members of the council's Budget and Appropriations Committee and its Education and Labor Subcommittee.

Dixon had called the hearing hoping to learn more about the school system's budget problems.

"Personally, I was upset when I heard on the news the number of people that were being laid off," Dixon said, referring to the temporary employees, some of whom had worked for the district for years and were let go without notice.

The system overspent its projected budget by $6 million from July through September, the first quarter of this fiscal year. Russo told council members that the deficit, if left unchecked, could jump to between $20 million and $25 million. The district carried a $19 million deficit into this fiscal year.

Chief Operating Officer Mark Smolarz said nearly 400 temporary positions were eliminated, resulting in the layoff of 268 people. The move saved the system about $2.6 million, he said.

Russo said a private meeting was scheduled last night so top officials could discuss what further steps should be taken. At the top of the list, she said, is a furlough for 300 to 350 nonunion employees - in particular, well-paid administrators.

"We certainly are looking at [school headquarters on] North Avenue," Russo said. "And the area academic offices and their officers are clearly the first place to look."

The academic officers are a middle layer of managers between principals and Chief Academic Officer Cassandra W. Jones. They are responsible for supervising seven areas of the school district.

But school staff members could still face job cuts, Russo told council members, including administrators in the district's technology department, paraprofessionals, kindergarten aides and other teaching staff.

Teacher surplus

Russo also said the district has a surplus of about 100 teachers this year because there were fewer retirements than expected and hundreds of new teachers had been hired.

"It's costing us money to maintain them," she said. "We're having to decide, do we want to hold on to these teachers?"

Marietta A. English, president of the Baltimore Teachers Union, said school officials need to make more program or administrative cuts before laying off teachers.

"They have to show me a whole lot of figures before that," English said of cuts in classroom staff. "No furloughs, no layoffs, no reorganization without negotiating with us."

Summer school

Russo said a major factor in the deficit carried over from last year was an expensive summer school program, which was attended by more students than ever. The five-week program was budgeted for $12 million; it cost nearly $5 million more than that.

To avoid having the next summer school affect the budget, the session could be drastically reduced, she said.

"It may be shorter. It may not be every grade level as it was last year," Russo said, adding that perhaps only students at certain critical points, such as fifth and eighth grades, might be allowed to attend.

Yesterday, union officials and council members wondered how much money specific proposed cuts would save, but neither Russo nor Smolarz could say. Those figures are expected to be available at a school board meeting tonight, Smolarz said.

Meanwhile, Russo was not optimistic that an end to the system's financial problems was near.

"If we made a list of everything we want to do ... the costs are so high," Russo said. "We are really going to continue to have to make some tough choices. I really do not see [next] fiscal year getting much better."

Sun staff writer Liz Bowie contributed to this article.