MADISON, Wis. -- The Madison Metropolitan School District's Board of Education is holding its first meeting on Monday to consider the idea of holding a voter referendum to ease a recurring budget crunch.

The board is meeting at the School Administration Building in downtown Madison and Monday's meeting is the first of many before a referendum could be put before voters.

The board is scheduled to discuss the substance and form of a potential referendum and where the proposed funds would be allocated. Some ideas being broached would have the referendum refer to general operating expenses while others would have it pertain to maintenance costs or elementary school education. A referendum, if put forward, would most likely impact the district's 2008-2009 budget, WISC-TV reported.

School officials have blamed the state-mandated revenue caps as the reason many districts like Madison are facing tough decisions in recent years.

Board member Johnny Winston Jr. said that officials fear further budget cuts will impact the quality of education in the district.

"We just know the cuts we have to make are more and more difficult every single year and what we're talking about this year, the cuts to increasing class sizes in elementary education, the threat of closing school, the threat of not having a fine arts program, extra curricular activities, it makes the board want to think about referendum in the near future," he said.

If finalized and approved by the board, the earliest a referendum could come before voters would be February 2008, WISC-TV reported.

The board has repeatedly been confronted with budget issues. Earlier this year, the board voted to close a school on the city's East Side to help save nearly $8 million, but then reversed itself when confronted with public opposition.

Stay tuned to WISC-TV and Channel 3000 for continuing coverage.