ADAMS TWP — The Mars School Board has a tentative 2011-12 budget that includes $4.6 million in cuts and leaves the property tax rate at 99 mills.

Like other school districts across the state, Mars was forced to cut programs and find creative ways to bridge the funding gap caused by reductions in state subsidies proposed by Gov. Tom Corbett.

Superintendent William Pettigrew said the cost-saving measures in the tentative $37.7 million budget approved by the board Tuesday night include:

• Not replacing six retiring employees, some of them teachers, and also not filling other open positions

• Eliminating a handful of paraprofessional and contracted positions, such as security officers

• Reducing ancillary services in special education

• Instituting a $100 student participation fee per season for sports and per semester for chorus, band and cheerleading

• Eliminating all mid-day busing of kindergartners

• Cutting other busing areas, including increasing the one-hour maximum on the bus for some students

• Instituting a four-day work week in the summer

• Eliminating the Classrooms of the Future program

• Terminating its 12 food services workers and contracting out the district’s entire food services operation to a vendor.

Under the food service workers’ contract, the union is obligated to negotiate with the food service vendor to place terminated workers with the vendor.

The district must approve a final budget by June 30.