HUNDREDS of pupils face upheaval because of Kirklees Council plans to shut a school.
The council wants to close RM Grylls Middle School at Hightown, Liversedge, in 2007, because the number of pupils is falling.
But staff at the school - which takes pupils aged nine to 13 - say this would severely disadvantage pupils.
Just 15 new pupils enrolled at RM Grylls this September, bringing the total number to 180.
Usually, middle schools expect about 40 new arrivals at the start of the school year.
Kirklees carried out a study in 2002, but agreed to give RM Grylls a stay of execution until 2004, when the situation was looked at again.
But council chiefs have now decided that it is no longer feasible to keep RM Grylls open.
They say pupils should be moved to West End Middle School at Cleckheaton, which will be extended to cope with the extra students.
If RM Grylls does close, the council says it will consider providing pupils with transport for the 1.65-mile journey to West End Middle.
However, staff at RM Grylls fear that if no extra cash is given for travel, families will not be able to afford to transport their children to school - meaning they will have to walk.
Tracey Delaney, a learning mentor at RM Grylls, said: "One of our parents calculated that it would cost £25 a week to send a child to school.
"Most of our children come from the Windy Bank estate, where people just don't have that money.
"West End Middle on a major road, so there are health and safety concerns about children walking to school.
"I would not want my child to walk nearly two miles to school and back. There will be a fall in attendance if the children have to go to West End, because some will just be unable to get there all the time."
Mrs Delaney also said staff were worried that West End Middle would will not be able to cope with the extra pupils.
Staff also feel it makes no sense to shut the school now, when middle schools may be phased out in Kirklees within five years.
Mrs Delaney added: "They propose to close middle schools and go to a two-tier system, so why disrupt pupils twice? It would be a great shame to see the school close.
"It has been here 60 years and its grounds are used by the whole community.
"If it closes, we stand to lose £300,000 of lottery money, which we were given to build a sports pavilion which would serve everyone in the area.
"We are all up in arms about this and we've got the full support of the Windy Bank estate and some parents from West End Middle."
Mrs Delaney accepted that pupil numbers had fallen, but said this had been made worse by parents not sending their children to RM Grylls because of rumours of its closure.
A Kirklees education department spokeswoman said: "We are in the middle of the consultation process on proposals to close RM Grylls and enlarge West End Middle.
"Meetings have been arranged for parents and the community this week and next.
"We have circulated leaflets and booklets about the proposals and had extensive discussions with a range of people involved.
"We believe West End could take all the pupils from RM Grylls's priority admission area with only minor changes to its accommodation."
