LEWISTON — City councilors discussed at their 1½-hour workshop Tuesday night their ideas about how to change the school budget so that it will pass on its second vote June 11.

The proposed $111.47 million proposed school budget failed in the first vote earlier this month by a vote of 743-395. It is a 9.29%, or $9.48 million, increase to the current fiscal year’s $101.99 million budget. School Committee members met last Monday and made a $500,000 cut to the proposed budget.

Many councilors Tuesday felt that there was little that could be cut from the proposed budget and felt that the School Committee should take more money from its fund balance to offset the impact on taxpayers, while other officials felt that more significant cuts should be made.

Mayor Carl Sheline and Councilor Eryn Soule-Leclair both felt that the mere $500,000 in proposed cuts will not be enough to entice voters to pass the budget and that more work needed to be done on the budget.

Councilors Michael Roy, David Chittim and Timothy Gallant felt that the School Committee should add the $500,000 back into the budget and use a million dollars or more from the school department’s $11.1 million fund balance to offset more of the budget.

The School Department plans to use $4.5 million of that fund balance to help fund the proposed budget, leaving over $6 million in the fund balance, according to Adam Hanson, School Department controller.

Superintendent Jake Langlais told councilors at the meeting that administrators are apprehensive to take any more out of the fund balance because they use it for unexpected costs, he said.

Several teachers and school staff spoke at the meeting about how important it is not to cut any more funding from the school budget. To provide a meaningful education to all students, they cannot afford to cut any more staff positions, they said.

Some residents showed up to the meeting to voice their concerns about how much the proposed budget increase could affect some taxpayers in town, possibly forcing them to sell their homes because they cannot afford such an increase.

Langlais said if School Committee members meet quorum requirements then it can meet Wednesday evening ahead of the City Council school budget vote Thursday, to which Sheline strongly urged them to meet Wednesday.