BLOOMINGTON - On a day when Bloomington District 87 and its teachers' union agreed to a tentative three-year contract, the school board discussed the potential need for budget cuts that may include eliminating jobs.

The school board and the Bloomington Education Association members will have to vote to ratify the contract reached Wednesday with the help of a federal mediator.

The union will set up a meeting with its members in the next few days, said union President Jim Patton. The school board may vote at its Oct. 22 meeting or at a special meeting called before then, Superintendent Bob Nielsen said.

"We are just all pleased to finally come to an agreement," said school board President Cheryl Jackson. "We put in a lot of long hours to reach the agreement we have."

Both sides have agreed not to discuss details of the contract for 415 teachers until it is ratified and approved.

The teachers' contract expired June 30, classes resumed Aug. 18, and teachers have continued to work without a new contract since. The contract was finalized after a three-hour meeting Wednesday, Jackson said.

Meeting hours after the contract was settled, the board heard that expenses are growing faster than revenue and a deficit reduction plan including job cuts may be needed.

David Wood, the district's chief financial and legal officer, said expenses in the education fund - the district's main operating fund - will outpace revenues by about $500,000 in the current fiscal year. In the next fiscal year, the education fund deficit will grow to about $2 million.

The transportation and tort fund have a combined deficit of about $655,400 in the current fiscal year.

Wood told the board specific reductions will be recommended in January. A reduction in staff would be announced March 11, according to a timetable Wood outlined.

Areas where cuts can be made include supplies and materials, equipment, staff development, instructional supplies, technology and staff.

Wood cited rising expense projections in a number of areas, including increases of 10 percent in health insurance and 20 percent to 25 percent in utilities.

The board is taking prudent steps financially, Wood said after the meeting, but "the uncertainty is just where will the economy go."