BUFFALO N.Y. (WIVB) – Several music teachers and parents continue to be upset with what they say is a lack of music education within Buffalo Public Schools.

Amy Steiner who’s one of the music teachers at Hutch Tech High School say the music program is not getting the support it needs from school officials. She says it’s not just happening at that high school, but other schools in the district are seeing it too and they want it to stop.

“Music and art is one component of a student’s success in their high school career so we’re just saying lets put the arts where they belong,” Steiner said.

Carla Thomas says her son Alex, who is a senior at Hutch Tech, was always in a school band. She says that because the school stopped teaching concert band before school hours, it’s hard for him to participate. The change forces students to practice and study music on their own time and makes it more difficult for them to receive course credit.

“They won’t even let him go up during study hall, he’s going to sleep in study hall, wouldn’t ypu rather have him up and doing something,” Thomas said.

Hutch Tech principal Dr. Gabrielle Morquecho says this change happened because the former music teacher who led the program retired. Since then the school has been trying to build the program back up, and even hired another full-time music teacher.

Morquecho says the school supports music education and is exploring ways to strengthen music education throughout the district, but admits it is challenging. Hutch Tech is a technical high school and requires students to major in engineering programs, which fills up a student’s schedule. She says she understands how important music and art is for students and the district is working to solve this problem.

Steiner, along with a few other teachers and parents throughout the school district are expected to present their case in court on March 4th.