WINTHROP — Back to the cutting board.

Following voter rejection of a $10.2 million Winthrop school budget at the polls Tuesday, school officials decided at an emergency meeting Thursday night to search for spending cuts to appease residents.

The School Board voted 4-0 to refer the 2012-13 budget back to Superintendent Gary Rosenthal to reduce costs where possible. The board will meet on Monday at 7 p.m. to consider the Rosenthal’s recommendations, followed by a meeting of the Town Council at 8 p.m.

Rosenthal, however, advocated Thursday for sending the spending proposal back to the polls without any changes.

Voters, Rosenthal noted, had raised few questions or objections to the proposed budget in the run-up to Tuesday’s vote. The budget was rejected 680-721.

“We felt like, at that point in time … that the community seemed to be satisfied with the budget,” he said. “We were hearing in many cases the sounds of silence at our meetings.”

Rosenthal attributed Tuesday’s rejection of the proposed school budget to the mistaken belief among some voters that both the municipal and school budgets were on the ballot, not just the school’s portion.

“I’m not 100 percent convinced that the town has not validated the fact that our budget is, or is not, satisfactory,” Rosenthal said. He suggested “we put the budget back on the ballot, and that we ask for an up or down vote, letting folks know this is strictly a school budget.”

But several Winthrop residents at Thursday’s meeting pushed back against Rosenthal’s characterization.

“The community has spoken clearly,” Sandy Steele said. “I don’t think there’s confusion — there’s frustration.”

Resident Linda McDonald said she resented being considered illiterate.

“I understand; I know what I was voting against,” she said. “I have not had a raise in six years. I think the teachers and the police department can go a year or two without.”

The $650,000 increase in spending over last year’s $9.5 million budget was almost because of entirely to a $500,000 increase in the costs of special education, Rosenthal argued. A 4 percent increase in teacher salaries, deferred from last year, and a similar increase in health insurance costs also contributed to an increase in the proposed budget, he said.

“We went back and took this budget apart line by line,” Rosenthal said, citing efforts to re-negotiate rates for electricity and heating oil, among others.

The end result, he said, was a request for an additional $365,000 in funding from the town’s taxpayers.

At its June 4 public hearing, the Town Council approved both the school budget with its request for the additional $365,000, as well as the municipal budget. The two budgets combined result in an overall property tax increase of 92 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, or an additional $92 per year for a home valued at $100,000.

School board member Joseph Pietroski said he also favored sending the current budget back to the polls for a second vote without changes. But if it became necessary to cut, he hoped that the Town Council would reopen the municipal budget for possible reductions as well.

Sarah Fuller, one of several town councilors in attendance at Thursday’s meeting, said that she would support that initiative.

“I certainly believe that the budget is a shared effort,” she said.

But according to Town Council Chairman Kevin Cookson, such a move may not be possible. When the Town Council approved both the school and municipal budgets at their June 4 meeting, it also voted to waive the second reading — meaning that the municipal budget for the next fiscal year may be a settled matter.

The start of the new fiscal year is just over two weeks away, beginning July 1.

Cookson said the question of reopening the town budget has been referred to the town lawyer for an opinion.

Meantime, outspoken residents who attended Thursday’s hearing made clear they want to see cuts made.

“I don’t want to see teachers cut and I don’t want to see programs cut,” said resident Betsy Rowe. “But the town has spoken. They can’t afford it. There are a lot of houses in Winthrop in foreclosure … it’s happening all over the place. We’re in a jam; people are frustrated and they’re scared. The public feels like they’re not being listened to.”

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