All East Orange schools will run on a half-day schedule on Friday, the district announced Thursday evening.

This comes after all of the city’s 20 schools were on an unexpected half-day schedule on Thursday. This was believed to be related to a lack of staffing due to a mass call-out by teachers.

The call-out was supposedly a job action taken by teachers after learning more than 70 teachers and staff will be laid off on Dec. 15. School officials said this was due to a lack of state funding for the district.

Superintendent Dr. Christopher Irving and East Orange Mayor Ted Green held a town hall meeting Thursday evening to address parents’ concerns.

“The superintendent came in under the condition that he had to get all these things done, and we support him,” said Green.

“If the state won’t do it for us, we’re realizing that we’ve got to do it ourselves,” Irving said.

Nearby Newark, Irvington and Orange received millions of dollars in extra state aid this year. East Orange was only granted a bump of $200,000.

Irving warned that a state takeover - the option if these cuts were not made - would take the next steps out of the community’s hands. He says further cost-cutting plans include exploring ratables and solar energy.

Affected teachers told administrators how losing their jobs has impacted their lives. Parents demanded to see the district’s books after years of apparent mismanagement.

Irving spoke to a disconnect from the previous administration, saying “We didn’t prepare accordingly.”

Some in the crowd argued the cuts should come more from the administration than teachers. Others noted taxes will likely go up.

Several teachers called out of work after Wednesday’s news, leading to unscheduled early dismissals on Thursday and Friday.

The mayor says he is discussing potential state aid with Governor Murphy.

The district will host transition career fairs with local districts for affected staff in November.