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The Flowing Wells school district is losing more than 30 positions but gaining seven parent-community-involvement coordinator jobs.

The cuts and the new positions were approved unanimously Tuesday night by the district's governing board. Cuts were prompted by a looming state budget shortfall and declining district enrollment.

The 35 positions cut include a reduction in force of 18 support-staff positions for the 2009-10 school year. Twelve support-staff positions were eliminated.

Five vacant certified positions at Flowing Wells Junior High School also will remain vacant next school year.

"We're hopeful there is clarity in the state budget so we can start making some informed decisions regarding our staffing," said David Baker, Flowing Wells associate superintendent.

The five-member board voted to eliminate one school-service coordinator at each of its six elementary schools and one family-resource liaison at four of those schools.

One library clerk was eliminated at Flowing Wells High School and at Flowing Wells Junior High School.

Before the board voted on the job eliminations and reduction in force, Baker told the board that the decision to cut and eliminate jobs was done with great anxiety.

Many of those who had their positions cut were longtime district employees, Baker said.

The 18 positions cut as part of the reduction in force are:

• Two clerk/typist II positions — one at Flowing Wells High School and one at Flowing Wells Junior High School.

• Two district groundskeepers.

• Two special-education teaching assistants.

• Two night custodians.

• Two program assistants — one at Walter Douglas Elementary School and one at Sentinel Peak High School.

• Two instructional classroom assistants — one at the junior high and one at Walter Douglas.

• Two English-language-learner technicians at Walter Douglas.

• One high school instructional assistant.

• One district purchasing specialist.

• One reading-lab assistant at Hendricks Elementary School.

• One high school theater instructional assistant.

Twenty-two hours of instructional-aide time also will be reduced across the six district elementary schools.

Parents at Tuesday's meeting accept that cuts and reductions are inevitable as public education comes under the microscope at the state Capitol.

"Our overall challenge, in terms of cuts and reductions, is it will be significant, but it won't be nearly as deep as some of our neighboring districts," parent Tim Derrig said.

Derrig and two other parents formed a parent-advocacy team at Richardson Elementary School — which their children attend —to urge Arizona lawmakers not to treat education as a line item as they look to balance the budget.

The advocacy team will host a Flowing Wells District-Wide Parent Forum at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the auditorium at Flowing Wells High School, 3725 N. Flowing Wells Road.