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Tucson-area school districts are anxiously awaiting the final word on how the new state budget will play out — as are teachers who were laid off earlier this summer amid funding cuts.

Even though the revised budget passed by the Legislature earlier this week restored $500 million for education, the situation hasn't improved much in the Tucson Unified School District, which three months ago gave pink slips to 560 certified employees in anticipation of deep budget cuts.

That's in part because district officials are worried about committing to new spending when the budget is a bit like playing with funny money until lawmakers find a way to actually pay for it. The budget is still at least $2.1 billion in the red.

TUSD Superintendent Elizabeth Celania-Fagen said the new budget would translate into roughly an additional $4 million for the district.

That means TUSD would cut $40 million instead of the $44 million it was expecting to chop from its $356 million budget.

While the final decision hasn't been made, district leaders are considering asking schools to cut site budgets by 14 percent — still better than the 16 percent they've planned for when school starts, but hardly a windfall.

If a midyear cut is necessary, Fagen said, the district has $4 million in carry-forward dollars that it would be able to use.

Fagen described herself as "hopeful but cautious," and said that if the plan sticks, the school sites will be given autonomy to decide where to put the additional money.

Meanwhile, the district does not yet have a target on how many of the laid-off teachers will be called back. As of mid-week, 117 had been called back, and recalls will continue throughout the summer, said Nancy Woll, interim chief human resources officer.

The Flowing Wells Unified School District is likewise showing restraint because of concerns that the promised revenue won't materialize and schools will just have to regurgitate those dollars in the fall.

The district will rehire 10 of the approximately 40 teachers who lost their jobs. Fewer than 20 of those teaching positions were a result of a reduction in force; the others were the result of contracts that were not renewed.

District officials said other teachers also have been hired back due to attrition.

Superintendent Nicholas Clement said the district had to be cautious when calling back teachers.

"The Legislature put $500 million into the school budget, but they haven't dedicated a revenue source for it," he said. "We've been cautioned not to commit dollars that may not be there after Oct. 1."

The Sahuarita, Vail and Tanque Verde school districts didn't lay off teachers, but here's an overview of what's going on in other districts:

The Governing Board pre-empted the Legislature's approval of the budget and authorized the hiring of personnel beginning two weeks ago.

The board approved the rehiring of 32 of 101 employees who were working under temporary or emergency certified contracts and were let go. The majority were teachers, and it's possible that 23 more of those vacated positions will be filled.

The district also filled 65 of 126 certified job openings it has posted. Of those hires, 20 are elementary school teachers, 16 middle school teachers and 20 high school teachers. It also filled nine special services positions, which include nurses, psychologists, speech pathologists and occupational therapists.

The district has removed eight teachers from a list of 13 positions slated for elimination, Superintendent Mary Kamerzell said. Five more teachers could be rehired if a position for which they're qualified opens, she said.

The district avoided handing out pink slips to teachers but did have to issue nonrenewal notices to around 160 employees working under short-term contracts. So far, about 30 of those teachers have been brought back, said Todd Jaeger, associate to the superintendent.

Exact figures weren't available, but the district expects to recall "the majority of those teachers impacted by the reduction in force," spokeswoman Tamara Crawley said.

Thirty certified teaching positions were cut in April, along with 93 support-staff positions.

Several school-level support staffers also will be recalled, but those figures also weren't available.