(WSB Radio) - The cash strapped DeKalb school system will lay off more than 200 employees, ranging from mid-level administrators to groundskeepers to drivers' education instructors.

The proposal is one of several budget-slashing attempts DeKalb schools face this year in the wake of a sour economy and state funding cuts.

"This is the most difficult assignment I have ever been given," Superintendent Crawford Lewis told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "I have mixed emotions about it. I really do. I wish there was a way around it.  But there's not."

The job cuts could come as early as soon as December.

School board members told Lewis to reduce staff during budget talks this spring, as the board and Lewis grappled with growing costs and fewer dollars. Salaries and benefits make up 91 percent of the system's $894.1 million general operations budget.

Lewis' goal is to reduce that to 86 percent.