A crowd of students and parents with protest signs gathered outside the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) in protest Tuesday afternoon.
The CBE is transitioning West Springs school from K-6, to K-4 starting in September, 2015.
It means that students in grades 5 and 6 will have to be bused to Rosscarrock School.
“I am sad I am moving to a different school,” says Ava Shenher, a grade3 student at West Springs. “I started off in kindergarten and I want to go to grade 6.”
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“We are getting rid of kids that have put years into the school,” says parent Shannon Niemi. “We have put tons of volunteer hours into our school and our kids are getting kicked out for kids that have never set foot in our school.”
The CBE says the move is unavoidable because of chronic overcrowding in the system.
“This year we have had to make a redesignation from one of our overflow schools because our overflow school is at capacity,“ explains Calvin Davies with the CBE. “There is no doubt that it would be great that none of us would have to face this reality.
This is the second protest related to school overcrowding since January, when parents successfully challenged a plan to move the Spanish program out of Westgate school.
The CBE says the ideal solution would be for the province to step in with funding for a new middle school.
Global News attempted to speak with Education Minister Jeff Johnson about increasing funding but he was not available for comment.
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