CRANSTON –– The school district has filed a lawsuit against City Hall, seeking $4.9 million in additional local money for the soon-to-end current fiscal year.

The move makes the Cranston public schools the second district in the state, after West Warwick, to sue a municipality for more cash this year in what is known as a Caruolo action.

School district lawyers went to Superior Court on Tuesday after a second meeting with Mayor Michael T. Napolitano aimed at reaching an out-of-court settlement.

And Michael A. Traficante, the School Committee chairman, said the talks will continueeven though the suit has been filed.

“I’m an eternal optimist,” he said. “I continue to be optimistic that both the mayor and the City Council will come to the realization that the kids are a priority for the city.”

But the chances for an agreement seem increasingly slim.

Napolitano, in an interview in his office yesterday, pledged to keep talking with the schools’ lawyers.

But he said the $4.9 million figure being demanded for the year that ends June 30 is “unacceptable” and suggested there is little city money to spread around.

“This is not a bottomless pit,” he said.

State and local government are in the midst of their worst fiscal crisis in memory.

And with elections approaching this fall, Napolitano and a majority of the City Council have made it clear that they oppose a property tax increase to fund any settlement with the schools.

The alternative, dipping into the reserve, is equally unpalatable in a city that slipped into junk-bond status only a few years ago after raids on the so-called “rainy day fund.”

But there is a growing consensus that the city will eventually have to tap its reserve –– no matter what happens with the Caruolo matter.

Joseph Balducci, the schools’ chief financial officer, projects that the district will run out of cash June 11, after meeting its last major payroll of the fiscal year.

After that, he said, the city will have to draw from its reserves to cover the schools’ remaining obligations for the fiscal year.

Among the bills that will have to be paid: a second, smaller payroll on June 25; contributions to the employees’ state-managed pension plan; payments for health-care claims; and utility bills.

Napolitano seemed to agree, yesterday, that the city will have to pick up the tab, pledging that Cranston will “honor contractual obligations.”

Talk of a Caruolo action had been swirling since the start of this fiscal year, with district officials claiming they could not run the schools with the $125.3 million they were to receive from federal, state and local sources.

By January, school officials were projecting a $3.8-million shortfall for the year and threatening to sue the city if it did not come through.

The projection swelled to $4.9 million in recent weeks, as district officials factored in rising utility costs and an estimated $250,000 in legal and consulting fees should the fight wind up in court.

Last month, the School Committee authorized a lawsuit. But district lawyers, from the Providence firm Brennan, Recupero, Cascione, Scungio & McAllister, held off on filing as they entered into last-ditch settlement talks with the mayor’s office.

Both sides have called the talks productive. But Benjamin Scungio, one of the schools’ lawyers, said the district went to court Tuesday to “protect its interests,” even as the talks continue.

The city, meanwhile, has hired a Providence law firm, Oliverio & Marcaccio, to represent its interests.

And at least one School Committee member, Frank S. Lombardi, said the matter seems destined to land before a judge.

“I’m hoping that we can reach a resolution,” he said. “Do I think it will happen? Probably not.”

Should the schools prevail in court and win a substantial award, City Council President Aram G. Garabedian said he will resist any push for a tax hike or a dip into the reserves, leaving one option –– significant cuts to municipal government, including the long-discussed consolidation of city and school offices with similar functions.

dscharfe@projo.com