PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – More than 100 people packed a school board meeting Monday night, pleading with members to reconsider controversial staff cuts.

The Northgate School Board voted to furlough 23 teachers and 10 teacher’s aids because of declining enrollment.

But many parents say the public wasn’t given enough time to speak out on the plan.

“I implore you, can we at least table this for a little longer and not put anybody’s jobs in jeopardy,” Parent Noah Brooks said.

Others say they want to see more information about the formula used.

“These are extremely drastic cuts and I would respectfully ask that all of you take a moment to look on the internet for grants, any type of funding, because it is out there,” parent and teacher’s assistant Lisa Bietrich said.

“If we do not have a good student-teacher ratio, what will we offer people of this community?” parent and teacher Tom Michalow asked the school board. “It can’t be super-low taxes, we don’t have Walmart, we don’t have Diamond Run. But what we can offer is a quality education where a teacher gets to talk to their child every day.”

The cuts are set to take place in the fall.

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