Durham, N.C. — Durham County Commissioners have found a way to balance their budget without cutting the jobs of teachers in the Durham Public Schools, County Manager Mike Ruffin said Wednesday.

The commissioners gave tentative approval Tuesday night to transfer funds from the state lottery allocated for the school district’s building and debt-service fund into a county account. The county would then apply as much as $4.1 million in property-tax revenue to the school budget.

Hank Hurd, interim superintendent, predicted a budget shortfall for the 2010-11 school and told commissioners in April that as many as 400 teaching positions could be in jeopardy. Hurd’s final budget proposal cut 237 jobs, not all of them filled.

Ruffin said the county’s arrangement would ensure the no currently employed teacher would lose a job.

The new agreement protects 185 teachers, 179 of them full-time employees, Ruffin said.