NORTHAMPTON — Northampton High School students marched to City Hall and occupied the mayor’s office on Wednesday to protest planned cuts to the school’s theater department, ramping up pressure on the city and the School Committee ahead of what is expected to be a contentious meeting Thursday on the school budget for next fiscal year.

The roughly 100 students who participated in the walkout were protesting against the proposed elimination or reduction of hours of a theater teacher position currently held by Dave Grout, who students said had been informed he was one of more than two dozen school staff members that would see their jobs either eliminated or reduced as part of the proposed school budget to come before the School Committee on Thursday. The cuts are necessary to stay within the city’s 4% cap on increases to the school budget for fiscal 2025, which begins July 1.

The students said the cuts could affect musical productions the school has become known for, such as a recent production of the musical “Freaky Friday.”

“Dave has always done whatever he can to meet his students needs and to advance the arts at NHS,” said Noah Daube-Valois, a senior who spoke during the walkout. “It’s time the district does the same for him and the thousands of students that will participate in the theater program in the years to come.”

After marching from the high school to City Hall, students entered the building for a sit-in protest inside Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra’s office. Students spilled into the hallway outside her office. About 30 minutes later, the mayor briefly emerged to address the protesters, thanking them for sharing the concerns.

“The schools are the most important thing to me. They always have been. They are one of our most important services,” she said. “The city has a lot of services that we have to provide to. But I can promise you that the School Committee, the mayor’s office and the City Council, we are all working as hard as we can to try and make sure that all the services in the city are provided for.”

Sciarra then said she had a virtual meeting with state Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer for the next four hours and needed to leave, though the students vowed to stay until the meeting was done. School Superintendent Portia Bonner later arrived and talked with the students, who vacated at around 11:30 a.m., about two hours after students first arrived.

Although budgetary concerns and fears of cuts aren’t new for the school district, a variety of factors have come together to make next year’s budget planning particularly precipitous — what some have dubbed the “fiscal cliff.” This includes the stoppage of federal relief dollars provided to the school district during the pandemic, and a historical over-reliance on school choice funds that have become depleted.

Last year, Sciarra used $1.2 million from the city’s stabilization fund to prevent cuts, at the time saying it was part of a two-year plan to balance the school budget.

The mayor’s office has said limiting next year’s budget to a 4% increase is necessary in order for Sciarra to submit a balanced city budget to the City Council. Limiting the increase to that amount instead of the 8% originally proposed in December will necessitate a salary freeze for all staff, and the elimination of numerous teaching and support staff positions.

All told, nearly 30 teaching and staff positions are on the line, among other reductions.

The Northampton Association of School Employees, along with Wednesday’s student protesters, have countered that prospect by demanding a “level services” budget that would not result in job cuts, which would require a 14% increase in next year’s school budget.

The protest was organized by Daube-Valois and Lucy Braudis, another senior at the high school who had previously participated in another student walkout to protest the budget cuts this month. At Wednesday’s event, Braudis said the school’s theater department was a draw for students to attend NHS rather than other schools, such as the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts charter school in South Hadley.

“The NHS theater department is actually what pulls a lot of students from out of district and charter schools back into the district,” Braudis said. “A lot of students from PVPA come back because our theater program is arguably better and stronger.”

Braudis also said that being a part of the school’s theater program under Grout was a life-changing experience, and she aimed to pursue a professional career in stage management.

“It was some of the best times I’ve had in high school,” she said. “Getting to experience this is something that I wouldn’t want to take away from anyone.”

Grout declined to comment for the story, saying he had not been involved in organizing for the protest and felt the focus should be more on the potential loss of theater programming.

Ward 3 School Committee member Emily Serafy-Cox and former at-large committee member Meg Robbins were present outside City Hall to observe the protest, as were City Councilors Quaverly Rothenburg and Jeremy Dubs.

“I wanted to come out when I heard that this was happening,” said Serafy-Cox, who has previously voiced opposition to the school budget cuts. “I wanted to hear what the students had to say, and witness the strength of their conviction.”

The School Committee is scheduled to meet Thursday night at 6:30, where members are expected to vote to approve a school budget that will be sent to the mayor to be included in they city’s overall budget.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.