HAMBURG, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Hamburg Central School District Board of Education approved the 2024-2025 district budget at a special meeting Tuesday morning.
The approved budget includes layoffs for 20 district employees, including 13 teachers. Some parents witnessed the vote take place and voiced their frustration with the district's decision to move forward with the budget. One of those parents is Jessica Reyna, a mom with four kids currently in the school district. All four of her kids are currently in class with one of the teachers being laid off.
"When safe people are no longer going to be here next year, I don’t know what that does to my child," Reyna said.
Reyna brought a drawing that her five-year-old son drew during a class activity where he was asked to draw someone who makes him feel safe. He drew his health teacher who is apart of the layoffs.
"My five-year-old was speech delayed. He has a hard time making connections," Reyna said. "That is such a moment for me as a mom because entering Kindergarten this year, I did not know what it was gonna look like for him".
Next year's school budget is approved for $83,911,292 — a less than 1% increase compared to last year's budget. According to the school district, the layoffs are expected to help fill a multi-million dollar deficit. The district said the deficit comes after pandemic era funding dried out.
After the special meeting, 7 News asked for an interview with Hamburg Central School District Superintendent Michael Cornell but was declined. Cornell previously told us these layoffs are a harsh reality for district.
"The last thing that we want to do is lay off a single teacher, a single maintenance, mechanic or custodian or teacher aid. We have amazing people who do great stuff on behalf of our kids every single day," Cornell said. "The reality of it is, we need to make sure that our revenues, our enrollment, our staffing are all in balance. This budget does that".
Ashley Rapsinski is another parent who was in attendance at the special meeting. She claimed her biggest frustration is the lack of transparency from the district.
"I understand they can’t tell us who is going to be in which position, but we should know how many of each position we need in order to serve our students and make sure that our numbers align with other districts," Rapsinksi said.
The budget will be placed on the ballot for voter approval on May 21st. Despite their disapproval, Rapsinksi and the two other parents at the meeting are asking for the community to vote yes on the budget.
We love our schools. We love our teachers. We want our students to be here. We chose this place for them. I want to work with them. I want to improve this," Rapsinksi said.
If approved by voters, the layoffs are set to go in effect July 1st.
Parents, students and community members attended a board meeting in March and voiced their disapproval of the layoffs.
WATCH: Parents and students frustrated after Hamburg Central School District announces 20 layoffs
A few days later, students walked out of school to protest the layoffs. 7 News anchor Lia Lando spoke with frustrated parents and students. You can watch that report below.
