WEST SENECA — On Friday, students at West Seneca West and East High Schools staged a walkout to protest potential layoffs.
The protest comes three days after Interim Superintendent Jeffrey Rabey announced plans to lay off dozens of staff members in the district to close a nearly $5 million budget gap.
"Hearing about this made me really really upset. This is people's livelihoods we are talking about here," said West Senior Ashley Bouris.
At Tuesday's school board meeting, Rabey announced 47.5 positions would be cut — through layoffs and not filling open positions.
WATCH: ‘To cut almost $4.5 million’: 47.5 positions cut in West Seneca CSD 2024-25 budget draft
Pandemic grants to schools across the country expire at the end of the year — forcing schools like West Seneca to dip into surplus funds.
Permanent substitute teacher Emma Taylor says she's worried for her future.
"It's heartbreaking as someone who is pursuing a career in education every day. I went to West so some of these teachers have inspired me to become a teacher," said Taylor.
While West Seneca's struggles are serious, the financial picture in more than a dozen other districts is even worse.
A fiscal stress report from the State Comptroller's Office lists two districts in Western New York as "susceptible to fiscal stress," Evans-Brant (Lake Shore Central) and Hamburg.
Hamburg Central Schools plans to cut 20 positions by July first -- many of them teachers.
WATCH RELATED: 'Save our teachers': Students in Hamburg Central School District walk out of school to protest teacher layoffs
"It's upsetting it's not their fault. We see it every day it's all over, it's Hamburg, it's all these places around here," said Gracie Schurr, a student at West Seneca West.
Another student Logan Sitarek, says the layoffs leave the students wanting transparency.
"I think that the District needs to be more transparent with the staff, the students, even like the residents of our district," said Sitarek.
Teachers are hoping the walkout can change the minds of the administration.
"We are hoping that's not the case. We're hoping that seeing the student support, staff support makes some kind of difference. Some kind of change," said Janessa Cusimano, a teacher at West Seneca West.
West Seneca's budget is not final. There will be another hearing on Tuesday. West Seneca residents will vote on that budget on May 21st
There will be a special board meeting on Monday announcing the new Superintendent.
7 News Reporter Jaurdyn Johnson reached out to the district and received this response:
We understand the students’ concerns. It is with students in mind that we formed our draft budget. With Federal Funding through Pandemic Recovery funds, we were able to hire 105 teachers and 132 non-certified staff. We will be able to maintain 74.5 of those teachers and 118 non-certified hires. The reduction in positions will come through attrition first and then layoffs. There will be approximately 19 teaching layoffs and approximately 10 non-teaching layoffs.
Though it would be optimal to have the funding to keep everyone on staff, we knew that Covid funding was temporary. As a District, we must remain fiscally responsible and maintain our pre-covid array of programs and opportunities for our students.
