BETHLEHEM, Pa. — An eastern Pennsylvania school district has eliminated 145 jobs, or nearly 8 percent of its work force, as it seeks to counter a proposed reduction in state funding.

The Bethlehem Area School Board voted Monday night to approve a nearly $204 million spending plan that includes the elimination of 79 teaching jobs as well as a property tax hike. The cuts will come through a mix of attrition and layoffs. The cuts also include teacher aides, hall monitors and parent liaisons.

The budget scales back a prekindergarten program, institutes an athletic fee, eliminates middle school soccer, sets minimum enrollments for electives and kills a middle school team teaching program.

New Superintendent Joseph Roy called it an “an extremely challenging” budget season in light of state funding cuts.