Update: Students participated in a similar walkout at Glenn High School on Monday.

Hundreds of students at East Forsyth High School demonstrated their opposition to recent budget and staffing cuts by walking out of class on Friday.

As Scope News previously reported, a total of between 300 and 350 positions are expected to be eliminated altogether, for a combined projected savings of $19 million to $25 million for the 2025-26 school year.

Among the walkout participants were two daughters of one local mother who told Scope News that the entire community is outraged by what she calls a “beyond negligent” mishandling of funds.

“There is just pure outrage everywhere,” she said, asserting that students and staff are the ones bearing the burden for the district’s actions.

She also has students enrolled in Guilford County schools, where she volunteers at an elementary school, and says she sees firsthand how critical support staff positions like those being eliminated in the budget cuts are for many students.

“It puts everybody at a disadvantage.”

Video footage of the walkout soon began to circulate via social media, including what appeared to be staff members walking alongside students.

As for the mom we spoke to, the student protesters got her full support.

“Use your voice,” she encouraged her daughters and the many other students who participated. “Speak up. My husband is an Army veteran. He fought for people to have the right to protest. I want my kids to know that when something is wrong, you stand up.”

“It’s a very proud mom moment.”

Click here for more coverage of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools budget debacle.

(Photo courtesy)

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