Middle school sports programs will not be recommended for elimination this school year, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Peter Gorman said Monday morning.

Speaking on WBT's Morning News, Gorman told hosts Al Gardner and Stacey Simms that the budget agreement reached by state legislators and Gov. Bev Perdue late last week will provide CMS with enough money to keep middle school sports going.

Gorman also reiterated comments he made to The Observer on Friday, saying he expects to rehire a sizeable number of the 600-plus teachers who lost their jobs because of state-mandated budget cuts.

Late last month, Gorman had said middle school sports and CMS-TV would be cut in a worst-case state budget scenario -- a situation in which the state would mandate yet another round of budget trimming.

But in the interview with WBT, Gorman said he thinks the elimination of middle school sports -- a proposal which had generated controversy -- will not happen.

"The board could still vote to do that, but I will not reommend it," Gorman said. We're still taking large cuts. But they're just not as large as we had feared"

When asked how many of the laid-off teachers might be rehired, the CMS superintendent said he doesn't know.

"We worked all weekend on that, and we'll work on it again today," he said. "But I don't have an exact number yet."

Gorman said state officials have not told CMS how many teaching positions it will receive. He said the CMS staff is building its plans based on the overall budget.

"It will probably be another eight days before the state gives us our allocation, but we can't wait that long," he said. "We have to get going."