About $2.5 million in budget cuts that Vallejo's school board made this week will not be enough to save the district from a state takeover.

The school board began digging its way out of a projected $20.3 million deficit Wednesday night by closing Mare Island Elementary School and cutting music teachers, librarians, counselors, teachers and social workers -- all at the end of the school year.

But the district will still need to borrow at least $45 million to $50 million from the state to keep running. A state loan will come with the condition that the school board hand over governing power to a state-appointed administrator.

A state takeover is unavoidable, said Deputy Superintendent Cliff Solari. The school board will likely formally ask the state for a loan Wednesday, the eve of the April 1 deadline the district's financial advisers have imposed for finding another solution. But the board may delay the decision until the following week, Solari said.

"We're going to have a state administrator in here," Solari said. "It's more than clear."

The district's fiscal crisis is the result of deficient budgeting. The 2003-04 budget appeared to be balanced when it was submitted to the Solano County Office of Education last summer, but outside fiscal reviews have since uncovered substantial errors that hid a deficit expected to hit $20.3 million. The district is expected to need more than twice that amount to continue to pay its bills through fall.

Frank Remkiewicz, the district's associate superintendent responsible for the budget, resigned in early February.

Wednesday's cuts are just the beginning of a long process to balance the district's $132 million budget. A state loan would buy the district more time to bring its expenses under control, but deep cuts will still be necessary.

In the coming weeks, the school board is expected to cut an additional $4 million to $5.5 million from the 2004-05 budget.

"If anyone's wondering, 'Are these cuts serious?' you bet they are and they are not over," Trustee Bill Pendergast said. "There's nothing on the list that looks like the superintendent's yacht."

Janice Sullivan, president of the 1,050-member Vallejo Education Association, said the cuts are a knee-jerk reaction to the district's budget woes.

"It's unconscionable that they are doing this to our children, especially given the fact that we know we are going to have to go to the state for a loan," she said.

Going without support services such as counselors and librarians in middle schools will be rough, Sullivan said. Middle school students need counselors the most, and libraries may have to close their doors without librarians, she said.

The school board also cut language arts, science and art specialists who taught elementary school classes while regular teachers prepared their lessons. Elementary music instruction was also eliminated. Many Vallejo parents cannot afford to pay for private music lessons, Sullivan said.

"It'll be very interesting to see how we are going to sustain any kind of educational growth in our district," she said.

Parents and teachers at Wednesday's meeting were angry, said William Innes, a teacher at Cave Elementary School. They have no faith in the school board, he added.

"I can't say that there's an easy answer," he said. "I have to wonder though: Would a state-appointed superintendent have made cuts that are so vital to students?"