BUFFALO, N.Y. —  From outside City Hall to the heart of the Buffalo School Board meeting, students, parents and teachers from City Honors carried a single message: save the teachers.  

The district is looking to replace five teachers with 16 school aides.

Two of the positions on the chopping block would be coming from the music department.

"Many students participate in the music program and it is their happy place. It is mine as well,” said City Honors student Mallory McMahon.

According to the district, the move would balance the budget, currently facing a $27 million deficit.

"There are gonna be cuts across the district. That's going to happen,” said Buffalo Public Schools District Superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash.

They initially offered to have existing teachers take on the responsibilities of the proposed aids, but say the Buffalo Teacher's Federation shot them down.

Their dispute has made it all the way to the State Supreme Court, where a judge issued a temporary restraining order against the district and school board, to keep them from replacing those teachers.

School board members are now proposing a solution to keep this decision from dragging on in the courts.

"The union ought to go into that court tomorrow with the district and ask the judge to stay this decision until the end of the school year. And give both parties the opportunity to negotiate something that works for everybody,” said BPS School Board Member Larry Quinn.