It was a packed house at the Howard County Council meeting Wednesday night for a budget hearing focusing on the upcoming school year. 

Parents, students and teachers were packed inside the county council hearing, demanding to fully fund the Howard County Public School System's budget request. 

"My school lost 17 teachers," said Henry Yarmus, a junior at River Hill High School. 

Yarmus said this year, he's been feeling the pinch from budget cuts in the classroom. 

"It's truly a heartbreaking thing to feel, especially when these teachers dedicate so much," Yarmus said. 

Howard County Board of Education requests $1.2 billion budget 

Earlier this month, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball unveiled his budget for the upcoming year with a total investment of $800 million in county funding allocated to the school system. 

He also proposed a total of $45.7 million in new revenue for schools for the upcoming fiscal year. 

But the Board of Education proposed a $1.257 billion budget request, with more than $101 million requested for maintenance funding. 

HCPS said that if they can get at least $29.2 million or $54 million in additional funding, then they can prevent class size increases and reductions in existing programs and staffing. 

This is something parents say is pivotal to securing their children's education. 

"I'm scared because I don't know what the future holds," said parent Ryan Powers. "I know gifted and talented programs are already on the table of being cut, my son won't have the opportunity to take more advanced math courses."

Right now, the school system only has about $47 million in new revenue, and teachers said they need the extra money to make it work in their classrooms. 

"We could be looking at increased class sizes, we could be looking at RIFs [Reduction in Force], meaning teacher layoffs, we could also be looking at program cuts," said Benjamin Schmitt, president of the Howard County Education Association. 

The County Council is expected to adopt by budget by May 21, with a final deadline in June.