But at a Board of Education meeting at Kalaheo High School Thursday night, he tried to assure worried parents, teachers and students that schools may not be hit that hard.
"It's just a contingency plan," Aizawa told more than 200 people who filled the school's cafeteria. "It's just for planning until we know what we're getting at the end of the (legislative) session."
In a March 11 memo to principals and district and state administrators, Aizawa told schools to develop 1996-97 budgets based on 70 percent of what they received this school year. It further instructed them to prioritize student programs.
"Should the department's budget picture improve later in the spring, additional allocations can be made to increase funding for the school-determined priority programs. vxxx In the meantime, I ask for your patience and understanding during these austere and unpredictable fiscal times," the memo said.
But Aizawa's reassurances, and school board chairman Mitsugi Nakashima's insistence that no student program could be eliminated without board approval, did little to appease the audience. Some said principals had already begun freezing positions, transferring staff and cutting student programs.
"This is the first I have heard that it is a contingency," said Phil Chase, one of two librarians at Kalaheo High School. He said he was reassigned as a world history teacher next year because Kalaheo could afford only one librarian.
Others said having schools plan for 30 percent cuts - even as a last resort - was extreme, given that the Legislature has not indicated such drastic cuts are imminent.
It is better to hold back now and beef up later, Aizawa said, than to overestimate funding now and have to cut right before the new school year.
He did acknowledge one "troublesome" side effect of the memo: by planning for such deep cuts, principals had to tell staffers whose positions are on the chopping block that they could seek transfers to other schools. After accepting such a transfer, the person cannot get their old job back, even if it ends up not being cut.
The House budget does not cut Department of Education funding, but fails to add new money to cover the cost of educating about 3,000 new students next fall. Aizawa said the DOE needs $11 million to pay for this "workload increase." Its operating budget is now $682 million.
The Senate has not yet passed a budget. After it does, both sides will get together to hammer out differences. The budget is generally finished in the last days of the session, which this year ends April 29. Even after the Legislature makes its allocation, Gov. Ben Cayetano could choose to hold back some of the money.
The House Finance Committee's report accompanying its budget says the DOE could cut supplementary student programs to cover the workload increase, authority Aizawa has sought.
But the dozens of people testifying last night said such programs - including everything from after-school tutoring for at-risk kids to advanced classes for gifted ones - should be preserved. "These are not extra programs or services. These are direct services to students," said Kathy Campbell, manager of the After-School Instructional Program at Kalaheo High School, who carried written testimony from more than 100 people lauding the tutorial.
Some board members told those testifying to make their cases to the Legislature, which sets the overall budget. But the crowd expressed frustration with that common refrain.
"I'm tired of hearing nothing can be done. I may not be able to make a dime's worth of difference by being here, but I want my voice heard," said Leslie Stewart, a coordinator of Community Quest at Kailua High School.
The learning center's funding has already been cut 25 percent, with more cuts expected next school year.