Hillsborough officials are proposing a four-day summer school program as they look to cut another $26 million out of this year's budget.

School Board discussed a plan to close all schools and district offices for one workday during the seven weeks of summer at a workshop Tuesday. The district would save at least $1.2 million from the move. Employees would save on gas and other expenses associated with coming to work.

School officials acknowledged this could be a hardship for working parents, who would have to look for alternative daycare options. Hillsborough Out-of-School-Time, a daycare program, enrolls around 3,000 students on average during the summer, and thousands more attend academic summer programs.

But the budget picture is bleak. Based on current state revenue figures, Hillsborough school officials project that they could have to cut another $29 million out of this year's budget, on top of the latest $26-million hit. If so, they could be absorbing as much as $100 million in budget cuts over two years.

District officials are looking into a wide range of cost-saving cuts. High on the list: No longer allowing teachers to postpone their retirement for three additional years after participating in the state's deferred retirement program. Although relatively few teachers are affected, school officials anticipate savings of more than $4.5 million, because these teachers are among the highest paid.

The district also plans to look into the way it allocates support staff to middle and high schools, custodial assignments and other positions determined by the numbers of students at a school.