Facing the reality of budget cuts, the Westside school board heard from outraged parents and students about what positions could be on the chopping block.
The money situation is so serious the district floated the possibility of replacing Spanish teachers with the computer software, Rosetta Stone.
There were plenty of cheers for the people speaking in opposition of the school district cutting a band teacher.
Some asked state senators for more money in the state-aid formula while others asked for administrators to cut their salaries.
Students said the band is not just a class, it’s a community where the teachers make them better students.
“It's definitely something that I don't feel is right for the school to take away,” said student Kamden Oathout.
“These people, they push us, to be better people, they push us to be better students, they better us as musicians,” said student Jacob Wigodsky.
Westside school officials said they don’t take these decisions lightly, but need to cut from somewhere.
“None of these decisions are easy, this I something no one wants to do and I think for the health of the organization, we have to look at everything we are working on,” said superintendent Dr. Blane McCann.
“Want to make sure the decisions we are making are as far away from the classroom as possible so it's not to impact student achievement,” said school board president Scott Hazelrigg.
The board will have one more open house and then they hope to make the cuts final by the end of the month.
