AUGUSTA -- School superintendents knew their districts would have to absorb more than $27 million in cuts this academic year. Now, each one knows his or her district's share of that spending curtailment.

The state Department of Education broke the news to superintendents Friday about the size of cuts their districts will have to absorb from Gov. John Baldacci's spending curtailment order.

Administrators say they have begun planning how to reduce their budgets and will make firmer plans after Thanksgiving.

Gardiner-based School Administrative District 11 will take a $178,000 hit from its $21 million budget during the remaining months of the 2008-09 school year.

"Right now, the budget's frozen, so we'll try to make up that shortfall through the curtailment of items in the budget and some hiring savings," SAD 11 Superintendent Paul Knowles said.

Augusta schools Superintendent Cornelia Brown has also frozen spending in her district, stopping new expenditures on travel and professional development.

The Augusta school system will absorb $331,000 in cuts as a result of Baldacci's curtailment order. The city's schools are running on a $28.5 million budget this year.

Waterville Public Schools Finance Director Paula Pooler said administrators will meet after Thanksgiving to determine how to absorb a $167,000 cut from the school system's $20 million budget.

"We're going to do it as a group," Pooler said.

Farmington-based SAD 9 will absorb a cut of nearly $223,000 from its $23.9 million budget. The district has frozen expenditures and will be hesitant to fill vacancies, Superintendent Michael Cormier said.

District board members and administrators will devise a plan for cutbacks over the next month, he said.

"By this point of the year, hopefully all the essential supplies have been purchased," Cormier said. "We're trying to be thoughtful and deliberate in our process."

Winthrop's schools will have to do without $126,000, according to the Department of Education. Board of Education members and administrators will devise a plan for addressing the subsidy cut in a meeting on Dec. 3.

"To say it's frustrating is an understatement," Winthrop Superintendent Stephen Cottrell said.

The Winthrop schools could partially rely on unspent funds from the 2007-08 budget, Cottrell said. The district is awaiting the results of an audit that will tell officials how much remains.

The Maranacook-area schools in Manchester, Mount Vernon, Readfield and Wayne will take a combined $213,000 cut this year.

Administrators from the district's schools will make recommendations for cuts over the next few weeks, Superintendent Rich Abramson said.

A Maranacook school board finance committee will then examine those recommendations, he said.

"Everything is on the table," Abramson said.

SAD 16, which serves Farmingdale and Hallowell students, is absorbing nearly $84,000 in cuts from a $10.4 million budget.

Superintendent Donald Siviski said the district has frozen expenditures on conference attendance and travel. In addition, the towns' schools will realize some savings as diesel and fuel oil costs drop, he said.

"If the revenue forecast continues to be bleak and more reductions in subsidy are projected, we will need to regroup and assess other expenditures," Siviski wrote in an e-mail.

Announcing the curtailment with Baldacci on Wednesday, Education Commissioner Susan Gendron she expected some districts would make layoffs. She also predicted perks like field trips would become increasingly rare.

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, Ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com