PORTSMOUTH —The School Committee voted 4 to 3 along party lines last night to sue the town to recover a big chunk of the $1.1 million voters cut from school spending at the special Financial Town Meeting in August.

The vote was expected, with the Committee’s four Democrats prevailing against three Republicans, while numerous residents urged them all not to go to court.

E. Richard Carpender, who made the motion to sue under provisions of the Caruolo Act, said the committee will seek $770,167, the amount outside auditors have said is necessary to balance the budget by the end of the fiscal year.

The Town Meeting authorized $31,359,015 for the schools in August.

“This is not something we take lightly,” Carpender said of the legal action.

After a thorough review of the budget, both by the committee and B & E Consulting, “I see no other place to cut without a serious impact on students.”

Douglas Wilkie, a Republican, contended that a Caruolo complaint is not worth the effort.

He claimed that at best, the Committee will be able to recover $458,495 from the Superior Court and will have to spend half of that on legal and consulting fees.

Carpender replied, “If your numbers were right, I would vote with you.”

B & E “was clear” about stating the built-in deficit in the current budget as $770,167, Carpender said. Any additional consulting and legal costs ultimately would be added to that figure, he said.

Carpender said Wilkie’s reference to $458,495 had to do with a hypothetical situation B& E principals presented several weeks ago.

The consultants had said a judge might force the School Committee to whittle down the $770,167 deficit by draining cash reserve accounts worth $311,672 before authorizing any additional funds.

In such a scenario, the judge would authorize an additional $458,495, Carpender said.

After last night’s meeting, Carpender said the committee would oppose using one-time financing sources — in this case mostly Medicaid reserves — because they fail to prevent a revenue shortfall in subsequent budget years.

Walter Edge, a principal of B & E, has warned the School Committee and the Town Council that a judge’s decision concerning a Caruolo complaint would pertain to only the current fiscal year.

Voting with Carpender last night were fellow Democrats Sylvia Wedge, chairwoman of the committee; Marjorie Levesque, and Terri Cortvriend.

Joining Wilkie in opposing the move were two newly sworn Republican members, Jamie R.B. Heaney and Michael Buddemeyer.

Heaney said, “I said I would vote against Caruolo. It’s divisive and the town is too much divided right now.”

Wedge asked him how he would raise an additional $770,000.

Heaney said he was “not comfortable” with B & E’s figures.

Nancy Askew, a resident, typified comments made by objectors to the action, telling the School Committee “to quit blaming the taxpayer when you can’t stay in your own budget.”

Larry Fitzmorris, president of Portsmouth Concerned Citizens and the architect of the budget cut, called the vote a “straight-forward attempt to subvert the decision made by people at the Town Meeting.”

Schools Supt. Susan F. Lusi, meanwhile, announced that a perceived lack of community support has prompted a prestigious regional accreditation agency to place Portsmouth High School on “warning” status.

She said the New England Association of Schools and Colleges have cited some brick-and-mortar issues that have been resolved since a site visit last spring.

But the agency still has concerns about the adequacy of the school budget, and wants to see a comparison of this year’s allocation with next year’s proposal by April 1.