NEW HAVEN, Ky. — Students in Nelson County returned to school today, after classrooms were left empty for half of last week.
On Wednesday, students and teachers walked out in protest of the Nelson County Board of Education voting in favor of moving forward with a high school merger.
A major staff callout last week forced the county to cancel classes district-wide.
While class was back in-session Monday, protests continued across the county.
“The community does not feel like they’re voices are being heard, they’re concerns are being heard,” said parent Jessica Hogue.
The board voted 3-2 last Tuesday to merge Thomas Nelson High School and Nelson County High School.
Now almost a week later, parents are still worried.
"That's less opportunities for those students to be involved, to have a place, to have a purpose, that's their home and they're talking about taking that away," said parent Melissa Parrish.
Both Parrish and Hogue told WHAS11 that they have sent numerous emails to the members of the board asking questions about why they voted for the merger, where the middle schoolers will go, and what the timeline would be - but all the emails have gone unanswered.
So, families are taking to the streets - holding signs that read "United with Educators" and "Keep Thomas Nelson Open" while chanting "Save out Schools!"
"I think the community would not have to go to this length if we could just get some transparency and some clarity from the board members who are making this decision," said Hogue.
Parrish and her high school-aged daughter Ella Rose are worried about growing class sizes and lost opportunities for students if the schools merge.
"It wouldn't be a good community for anyone because it would be too many kids and we're rivals…from a student perspective who's an athlete, that's not good at all and we won't be able to connect I don't think," said Ella Rose Parrish.
New Haven families vowing that this is just the beginning of their protesting.
“How many people are going to be lost through the cracks? The sad part is, the people that can do something about it, that can homeschool or go to private school, or go elsewhere…they’ll do that. But the kids that do not have the good home life or don’t have the means, those are the one’s that are going to be lost through the cracks and miss all those opportunities," said Melissa Parrish.
And waiting for answers.
“We are fighting for equal opportunities not just for one group of students and one group of the county, we are fighting for every single student because every single one matters,” said Hogue.
WHAS11 has tried to get comment from current board members and the Nelson County Superintendent Wes Bradley, but so far they have been silent since the vote.
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