SOUTH HADLEY— Almost the entirety of the 479 members of South Hadley High School student body walked out of the building on Monday afternoon to advocate for changes to the state education funding formula.

At 12:15 p.m., students accompanied by teachers and staff, lapped the parking lot in the misty weather, chanting “fund our future” and holding signs with slogans such as “educators stand up for students.” After walking out, students walked back into school to demonstrate their support for education.

According to South Hadley Education Association President Amy Foley, students gathered in the gymnasium to share their concerns about the $1.3 million budget shortfall the district faces next fiscal year, the loss of 15 positions throughout the district and its impacts on the future of education in South Hadley. Interim Superintendent Mark McLaughlin, state Sen. Jake Oliveira and state Rep. Homar Gomez were also in attendance to listen to students.

“The overwhelming message from the speakers was this matters because it impacts the future for the students coming up through the district,” said Foley, who helped the students organize the event. “These younger students need to have the same opportunities that the high school students have had.”

The Gazette was not allowed to attend the assembly on school grounds or speak to any students involved in the walkout.

Before the walkout, student representatives presented Oliveira and Gomez each with a binder of more than 1,000 letters from students, school staff and community members, each detailing the consequences these large budget shortfalls have on the quality of education. McLaughlin said the legislators received a third binder to present to Gov. Maura Healey in hopes of continuing these conversations at the state level.

“We had a great conversation between a group of students and the two legislators, and that’s served as a kickoff for this moment of civic engagement from the students,” McLaughlin said.

The idea for both the letter writing campaign launched two weeks ago and the walkout came from meetings between student council members and district administration, McLaughlin said, where students asked questions about district budgeting, the Chapter 70 formula and local aid restrictions.

“These open conversations about the ways that local budgets are impacted by decisions made at the state level have led many South Hadley students to use their voice to signal their concern for their own education, and that of other younger learners who are not yet able to exercise their own voices,” McLaughlin wrote in a statement.

The walkout is the most recent effort by South Hadley community members to persuade state legislators that the Chapter 70 funding formula does not keep pace with inflation nor meet educational needs of students.

Last Monday, South Hadley Town Administrator Lisa Wong and McLaughlin testified before a joint session of the state’s Ways and Means Committee at UMass. The officials were accompanied by municipal and school leaders from Granby, Ludlow, Longmeadow, East Longmeadow, Ware, Monson, Wilbraham and Southwick.

“While state funding for schools has increased in recent years, these increases have not kept pace with the rising costs that districts face,” the statement said, “With limited revenue options at the municipal level, we are facing a dire threat to the health of pre-K-12 public education in Massachusetts.”

The statement notes a majority of school districts, 233 out of 316, receive minimum state aid despite rising costs of transportation, special education out-of-district tuition and declining enrollment.

Prior to Monday’s event, high school students created a video about the walkout that was posted to South Hadley Community Television, giving an overview of the walkout and asking advisors to make signs for each of their classes. The video also announces that South Hadley residents will testify about the impact of these budget shortfalls on April 8 at Beacon Hill.

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.