SHEFFIELD — Facing a deficit of more than $1 million, the Southern Berkshire Regional School District has cut the equivalent of more than 21 full-time positions.

Affected district employees were notified via email in the middle of the school day Tuesday that they would not have jobs next year.

"I am writing today with a very heavy heart regarding staffing reductions for next school year," the email from Superintendent Brian Ricca said. "Due to reductions in our budget, we are not able to offer you a position next year."

In a Wednesday night message to the School Committee and community, Ricca said a total of 21.3 full-time positions were cut, five of which are because of retirements, contract expirations or resignations — a licensed administrator, a school nurse, a teacher, and two education support professionals.

It was not clear exactly how many current employees stood to lose their jobs.

In the email to staff who were cut, Ricca said he had hoped to avoid layoffs but said the inherited budget and state funding challenges left him needing to close a significant deficit.

He told employees the cuts were not a reflection of their value or performance and acknowledged that notifying staff by email was “far from ideal,” but said he believed it was the quickest and most consistent way to inform them.

The cuts come before either the School Committee or the district’s five towns have voted on a budget, which has remained in flux as officials grapple with a number of financial uncertainties.

Just Wednesday, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue reported the district’s certified excess and deficiency funds — leftover money from the previous fiscal year — totaled at $933,154.

That figure is several hundred thousand dollars higher than the district anticipated, and Ricca said some of that extra funding could be used to hire back some of the teachers whose positions were reduced, among other things. He said the money also could be used to ensure there is enough to close out this fiscal year and lower assessments.

Securing certification of the district’s E&D funds has been a major point of contention among district leaders. Only six of the state’s 88 regional school districts do not yet have certified figures.

During last week's School Committee meeting, Ricca said that the deficit could only be addressed through staff reductions and that employees whose positions could be affected needed to be notified by June 1. Those who were notified could be hired back if funding comes through.

He also said he had been meeting weekly with union leaders to keep them informed.

However, he did not present specific proposed cuts to the committee, a requirement established during a March 26 meeting, when the School Committee voted that any proposed cuts to staff or programs must be brought before the committee for approval.

Andrew Rapport, president of the Southern Berkshire Regional Education Association, said that while the union had been meeting with Ricca, the union was not involved in making the staffing decisions. He said there is a general sadness and anger among the staff.

“It’s huge,” he said. “It’s a large chunk of the people that are facing kids.”

Nineteen of the eliminated positions are union jobs, and the union plans to bargain over the impact of the cuts. Rapport said he does not yet know what effect losing such a significant portion of the workforce will have on the district.

He added that while the midday email to staff could have been handled more tactfully, responsibility for the decision does not rest with Ricca alone because union leadership was aware it was coming.

District leaders had not sent any communication to families by Wednesday afternoon, something parents said was frustrating and disappointing.

"The school district owes us information," Egremont parent Rosemary Davis said. "It's irresponsible at best and it lacks decency at worst level from what happened to the teachers to not telling the families what is going on.

Davis said one of her two kids in the district forwarded a screenshot from Facebook on Tuesday night that had been circulating among their friends.

By Wednesday afternoon, Davis said she was disappointed not to have heard from Ricca, who frequently emphasizes transparency and communication through weekly newsletters and other updates to parents.

"They're upset, they're worried about their teachers, their worried about programs going away," Davis said about her kids. "It's such a small school that they know they're going to know people affected."

The notification is confusing for community members who haven't voted on a budget yet. Because of the fraught process, all five district towns agreed to remove the budget from their annual town meetings, instead pledging to hold special town meetings once the spending plan was completed.

"We haven't even voted yet, so I'm so confused how 22 people could lose their job when the towns haven't been given a chance to approve a budget. It makes no sense to me," Davis said. "This should be a last resort. It's utterly baffling to me how this could happen before we vote."