HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Parents mobilized against the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD school board Tuesday evening to rally behind staff members who are losing their jobs due to budget cuts.
CFISD announced it's chopping its librarian staff in half -- from 92 librarians to 42.
Parents are frustrated with this decision, which is why they gathered at the school board meeting to make their voices heard.
"I was surprised and shocked that so many people weren't aware of what was happening," parent Ashley Buckner said.
Cy-Fair ISD is facing a huge budget deficit. They have to make $68 million in financial cuts in the next budget year.
On Friday, some librarians were notified that they would not have a job next school year.
"We really need to make sure that our future workforce and our future caregivers are well-educated and productive members of society and we cannot do that if we cannot properly educate them, and that starts with reading literacy," Buckner said.
But it wasn't just concerned parents that made their voices heard during Tuesday's board meeting. Teachers were also concerned about their school librarians.
"I think that we need to find a way to fund all of the necessary things," Jeremy Eugene said.
Some parents weren't shy to blame Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, accusing him of withholding school funding until lawmakers pass the private school voucher program.
"Until we get the funding from Abbott, that is what this is about," Ali Fitzpatrick said. "This is way deeper than librarians."
Cy-Fair ISD said they have about 19,000 employees and their budget cuts will affect about 600 positions, so about 3% of its workforce.