The Fairborn Board of Education on Thursday approved placing an 11.7-mill emergency levy on the May 7 ballot, four days before the state places the Greene County school district in “fiscal caution.”

The Ohio Department of Education notified the Fairborn City School District this week that it will receive that state oversight designation beginning Monday because it faces a projected $4.1 million deficit by June 30, 2014.

Fairborn school officials must submit a plan by March 14 showing how they plan to generate revenue and reduce costs.

The new levy — which would generate $7 million annually for 10 years — comes after voters rejected a 7.4-mill emergency levy in November.

Treasurer Eric Beavers said they have no choice but to go with the larger millage because the district lost a year of tax collections.

“This was the absolute minimum we could ask for,” board President Tess Little said.

Little, vice president Bob Carico and member Roland Parks voted to place the issue on the ballot. Members Tom Swaim and Mike Uecker were absent.

Fairborn resident Frank Gilbert, who was among the 15 people who attended the meeting, asked the board what it would take to get through the 2013-14 school year if the levy fails.

Little said that would be up to the state.

“We lost that choice when we lost that levy” in November, she said. “They’re going to tell us what to do. We’re not going to tell them.”

Little said the state is conducting an analysis on the district’s finances and would say where cuts should be made if the levy is defeated. Because of the fiscal caution designation, the district could borrow funds from the state but would have to pay those back immediately, she said. She added that would lead to even larger levies in the future.

“The further this goes on, the more you hurt people,” she said.

Parks noted the district likely would have to make cuts even if the levy passes but officials said those have not yet been determined.

Beavers said the district cut $3.2 million last school year, then lost $3.5 million in state funding. That effectively wiped out those cost-savings steps, he said. The district has cut about $9 million in the last decade, he added.

“We have some trying times ahead of us,” Carico said.

Superintendent Dave Scarberry called it a painful time watching the district — which received an “Effective” rating on its most recent state report card but has three schools rated “Excellent” — reach this point and see programs reduced to minimum standards.

“It’s just difficult to know you got to begin to dismantle those programs designed to improve the educational ability of children,” he said.