MARQUETTE -- The Marquette Area Public School Board is trying to dig its way out of a 2.4 million dollar budget deficit.  In the school board's first phase of the budgeting process, the preliminary plan is to eliminate up to 8.8 full-time teaching positions.  Those teachers were notified Monday of the possible layoffs.  Some of the positions that could be cut are music and art teachers.

"Cutting is a horrible thing to go through.  We've been cutting for the last three, four, five years--approximately one million from our budget each year--so it's been painful every time," said MAPS Board President, Scott Brogan.

The next meeting is set for June, which is when the board will vote on the employee cuts.