BARRINGTON — The town’s public schools are getting nearly $500,000 in federal stimulus monies but Supt. Robert McIntyre said he isn’t sure how that money can be spent.

The General Assembly originally cut approximately $720,000 from Barrington’s state aid allotment but then gave the town about $479,000 in federal stimulus money. A total of $351,000 is earmarked for special education and $128,000, classified as stabilization funds, can be used for school improvements, including teacher training, assessments and data collection systems and support for low-performing schools.

Here’s the rub: the town has already approved a fiscal 2010 schools budget that included a $1.8-million budget increase, 4 percent more than the budget for the year that ended June 30. Since the budget has been set and stimulus money can’t be used to pay for existing positions, McIntyre isn’t sure how he can use the stimulus windfall. “It’s not like getting a blank check,” he said Tuesday. “It’s restricted. You have to justify it.”

Elliot Krieger, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said school districts do have latitude over how they can use the so-called stabilization money, but U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan cautioned districts not to commit to programs or staff that would extend beyond 2011 because there is no guarantee that additional stimulus aid will be forthcoming.

That’s what has McIntyre worried.

“Did we get more money? Yes,” he said. “But what happens when the money dries up? What happens in two or three years?”

Districts that use the federal money to hire more teachers or expand programs could wind up with a structural deficit a year from now, when the stimulus money is gone.

“We’re not going to hire any new staff,” McIntyre said Tuesday. “And we don’t anticipate having any new programs. Maybe we can use the money for special-education supplies or pay for an out-of-district placement.”

The town also has been promised it will have an extra $463,000, the result of savings in pension costs, but that money will simply be used to offset reductions in state aid. Moreover, McIntyre isn’t confident that the town will see the pension savings.

“A lot of the [pension] money is based on projections by the state,” he said. “We don’t have this money in hand.”

“For every teacher, we have to put so much into that pension pot,” McIntyre said. “We send them a check every month. This will reduce our [contribution] to the pension by $463,000.”

lborg@projo.com