WINDSOR — Closing Windsor Middle School and cutting dozens of positions are among the proposals Isle of Wight County Public Schools officials are mulling as the division faces millions of dollars in funding reductions.

“We’re going to have some serious decisions that we’re going to have to take a look at as we develop this new budget,” said Superintendent Michael McPherson.

The school division is anticipating a general fund shortfall of at least $2.45 million next year because of state budget cuts and increasing costs to continue existing services.

“You’re not going to hear a lot of good things,” School Board Chairman David Goodrich warned at a School Board work session Wednesday night at Windsor Elementary School.

Closing Windsor Middle School could save the division more than $900,000 next year in maintenance, utilities and staff costs. McPherson said if the proposal were approved, sixth-grade students would remain in elementary schools and seventh- and eighth-grade students would be sent to Windsor High.

According to Katherine Goff, spokeswoman for the school division, Windsor Middle School’s closure is under consideration because of the anticipated budget deficit “coupled with (a building) replacement not being in the foreseeable future and the escalating costs of maintaining that building.”

In addition to closing Windsor Middle School, officials also are recommending other cuts, including replacing in-school suspension with after-school detention, delaying adoption of new elementary social studies textbooks and eliminating several library clerks. The school division could shed the equivalent of 24 full-time positions if all of the recommended cuts are approved.

“These are just items that are under consideration,” Goff stressed.

The $2.45 million in recommended cuts doesn’t take into account possible cuts in funding from the county. Steve Jenkins, the division’s chief of operations, said the county administrator has directed department heads to prepare three budgets — one with no increase, one with a 5-percent reduction and one with a 7-percent reduction.

“In the best situation, I would say we would be flat-funded by the county, but I don’t know that that is the case,” Jenkins said. School officials estimate they could lose an additional $1.47 million in funding from the county.

Among the additional items under consideration if the county reduces funding to the school system is the elimination of the division’s preschool program, the elimination of lead teachers, increased class sizes and the institution of fees for non-core programs and athletic participation.

If all of the additional cuts are implemented, the division could shed nearly 60 additional positions.

School officials stressed that the proposed budget cuts are preliminary at this point.

“This is our starting point,” McPherson said. “This is not the budget.”

Goodrich said the public input would be weighed heavily during the budget cycle this year.

“Nothing is written in stone,” he said.