AMHERST — At least 1,000 students, staff and faculty, many from the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools, descended on the Campus Center at the University of Massachusetts Monday morning, rallying to preserve 18 positions at the middle and high schools that could be lost due to budget cuts.

“Taking away teachers and programs will make things worse for students, and will make education worse for me,” said Olive Paradis, a 10th grader at the high school.

Paradis was among those leading the action on an outdoor plaza, advocating for better school funding and changes to the formula used by the state to support local school districts.

Starting about 30 minutes before a Joint Ways and Means Committee hearing inside the Campus Center, focused on the Healey-Driscoll administration’s fiscal year 2026 education budget proposal and school aid, Paradis was joined by 619 of her peers from the high school, and a few hundred more students from the middle school, Amherst’s elementary schools and other districts from the area and across the state. Also in attendance were numerous faculty and staff from the schools.

For Paradis and other students, the possible cuts are already being announced, with the potential loss of a high school English teacher whose position would be eliminated.

Setting up near one of the main entrances to the building on a raw, chilly and often rainy day, the students, using megaphones, chanted “Students united will never be defeated,” and “What do we want? School funding. When do we want it? Now!” Others held signs with phrases such as “Prioritize our education” and “Tax the rich,” with some going inside to be visible to the legislators and state officials, holding their signs at the back of the auditorium.

Among those passing by outside was Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler, who was set to give testimony at the hearing, co-chaired by Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and Rep. Patricia Duffy, D-Holyoke, and respond to questions from legislators about the proposed budget.

“This feels like such an important issue,” Paradis said, describing herself as regularly being involved in activism.

Zoey Mordecai, a senior, has first-hand experience in how crucial financial support is to student education, arriving at the Amherst schools from a less well-funded district. “Coming here has made such a difference to my education,” Mordecai said.

Even while getting wet during the rally, and anticipating graduation from the high school before the cuts take place, Mordecai said it was critical to stand up.

“This is so important to me,” Mordecai said. “Funding affects schools and every single program in our schools.”

High school Principal Talib Sadig encouraged students to make the trek from the high school, and in the lead-up to the schoolwide field trip, students spent time in their classes learning more about how education is funded in Massachusetts, and how their voices could be heard on the topic.

“We support the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools and those who are encouraging a change in the municipal contribution to better support public schools,” Sadiq said.

Amherst high school senior Marisol Pierce Bonifaz, an intern for joint committee member Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, said cuts from previous years are already playing out in the building, including a lack of substitute teachers and more limited electives.

“Our education and our teachers raise us and they support us in all we do,” Pierce Bonifaz said.

Understanding that the students wouldn’t be offering testimony to the legislators, Paradis said some students are coordinating a trip to the State House for a formal budget hearing on April 8.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.