At a community forum Wednesday night, the superintendent of Rio School District broke the news of a budget crisis, as dozens of angry teachers picketed outside over union disputes and parents in the audience impatiently shouted out grievances.

Superintendent Sherianne Cotterell painted a grim picture of the school district's state.

"The governor cut the budget in such a way that will devastate this district," she said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger's announcement earlier this year that the state will cut $4.4 billion in education funds fueled the unrest at the forum that was directed toward the superintendent.

Cotterell, who was hired in July 2006 after former Superintendent Patrick Flaverty resigned because of differences with school board members, chastised those who criticized her administration.

"There's anger in the district, but I don't see why it's directed towards the board and this superintendent because we did not cause this problem," Cotterell said to the audience. "Every time someone doesn't get their way, they try to run the new guys out of town."

In response to the budget crisis, the school district has begun to freeze nonessential expenses and may consider increasing class sizes, making additional staff cuts, offering fewer enrichment courses and less instructional support for students, Cotterell said.

Interim Assistant Superintendent Michael Beever asked parents to keep an open dialogue about the budget crisis.

"Take time to talk to your neighbors," Beever said. "Tell them the cuts being proposed are absolutely the biggest cuts ever to education ever in the state of California. This is not good news."

Beever said more will be known about the deficit's effect on the school district once the budget for the next fiscal year is announced in late May or early June.

Also addressing the crowd of more than 200, Daysi Ortiz, head of Helping Out Public Education Organization, or HOPE, voiced a message of unity.

"I want everyone to know we need to work together on this," said Ortiz, a mother of two boys educated in Rio schools. "We have to be proactive, not reactive, because sometimes it's too late to do that."

HOPE is a cooperative of parents and teachers formed by Ortiz and another parent, Amy Prado, to discuss problem solving during the budget crisis.

Ortiz circulated postcards for audience members to state their budget concerns. The cards will be mailed at HOPE's expense to state legislators.

Keiko Coleman, whose child attends Rio Del Mar in El Rio, said the school representatives didn't address her concerns about smaller class sizes.

"I don't think one teacher can handle 50 students, especially when we're given such a wide variety of students."

Lea Escobar, a mother of two children enrolled at Rio Del Norte, also said her expectations of the forum were not met.

"Everyone knows that all the schools are being affected by the budget cuts," she said. "But I thought this meeting would clear up a little bit, as to well, because we're being affected by the budget cuts, this and this and this will happen, but I didn't get that feeling."

The budget crisis has already hit home for Stephanie Terrazax, 34, a former teacher at Rio Lindo.

"I've been with the district over four years and I got a pink slip, so its dramatically affecting me and my family," Terrazax said. "I don't understand why I got pinked when kids are not going away, they keep coming back, we're not losing kids."

In December, a state mediator was called in to help ease a labor dispute between the school board and the Rio Teachers Association, but tension remains between the two groups.

Cotterell acknowledged, but did not address, concerns stemming from the dismissal of teachers in the school district.

"We will do what we can for our staff, while we remain fiscally responsible," Cotterell said. "This was not a night to get into a debate about our teachers."

Rio School District includes six elementary schools and two middle schools, comprised of 4,200 students in El Rio, the River Park development and portions of Oxnard.