WARWICK — Listening to administrators present more details last night on a proposed $169.4-million budget for next year didn’t change the bottom line for School Committee members, who face the task of heading off a projected deficit of nearly $5 million.

The budget, which was first presented to the school board with an overview Monday night, is up about $11.6 million from this year’s spending. It anticipates no increase in state aid for the year that begins July 1 and is dogged by a contractual obligation to give the teachers about $4.78 million in retroactive pay in the fall.

After the meeting, School Committee Chairman Christopher E. Friel said the School Committee’s charge to come up with a balanced budget appears to be “an impossible task” but that the board will make every effort to identify more savings.

He said that the board will hold a public hearing on the budget next Tuesday at 5 p.m. and meet at 7 the following evening to adopt a budget to present to Mayor Scott Avedisian. Both sessions will be held at Winman Junior High School.

Noting that the School Department was granted more time to work on its budget before submitting it to his office, Avedisian yesterday expressed displeasure that the School Committee was given a budget by its administrators that is out of balance.

“To start deliberations with a budget that has a deficit of nearly $5 million just sets the wrong tone,” Avedisian said. “We tried to accommodate school officials by giving them more time to work on their budget and I would have expected to see something more realistic.”

In making the initial budget presentation Monday night, Supt. Peter P. Horoschak said the district is getting squeezed from all directions. Not only is there no hope of increased state aid, he said, but the district must live within the confines of a state cap on the local tax levy which means that the city cannot increase its local appropriation to the schools by more than 5 percent — if it decides to give the maximum.

Also, he and other school officials said, the district’s hands are tied by terms of the teachers contract which state that no more than 20 teachers can be laid off in a given year. The School Department will laying off the maximum as a result of the School Committee’s recent decision to close three elementary schools next year in a cost-saving consolidation of neighborhood schools that is expected cut expenses by about $2.7 million.

In addition, Horoschak’s proposal would cut about nine middle management positions, including two elementary principals, some program supervisors and a manager in the maintenance division. It also eliminates about 26 clerical and custodial positions, including weekend custodians at the city’s three high schools. It assumes that retirements will allow it to reduce the teaching force by at least nine positions that would not be replaced.

In keeping with the contract, the budget will provide teachers with a 3.5-percent raise next year. It includes funds for a 3-percent raise for top administrators.

With the city having decided to continue a moratorium on issuing any new bonds, the proposed budget is not able to address any major maintenance problems within the schools or install new fire alarms in buildings that do not meet the state’s tougher fire code requirements.

bpoliche@projo.com