The Portland School Department's budget deficit could top $2.5 million by the time auditors complete a financial review of the year that ended June 30. The total includes a possible $850,000 revenue shortfall in addition to $1.7 million in overspending that was reported last week.
School officials clarified their gloomy budget projections Friday in the hope that telling taxpayers now will soften the blow when auditors issue a report in October or November.
Superintendent Mary Jo O'Connor and School Finance Director Richard Paulson first pegged the potential deficit at $500,000 in May, during a bruising battle with city councilors, who were reviewing the school budget that started July 1.
