A group of parents and their children, tired of being overlooked by the Calgary Board of Education, held a rally on Sunday aimed at raising awareness of their desperate need for a secondary school.

Residents of Northern Hills say they’ve been fighting for years to have a new high school built in the area.

They add that there is a place for one, an empty lot that would make it a lot easier for students in the community to walk to school rather than drive or take the bus.

David Hartwick, with the Northern Hills Community Association, says it’s been needed since his children were four and seven years old.

He says the closest it’s ever gotten was on paper, in the capital plan back in 2005.

“We were all excited, 2005, we’re like, ‘okay, let’s get some schools funded’ and it wasn’t happening.”

Now, his youngest child will soon be graduating from Grade 12 at a school in a different community, a trip that Hartwick says often takes a long time or can be dangerous, especially in the winter.

“We’ve had a number of times where people have been pushing buses out. My daughter would show up at school at 11:00 for 9 o’clock classes just because the buses couldn’t even get them there.”

On Sunday afternoon, Hartwick and other parents from the community gathered at the spot that is planned for the school to be built, hoping to get enough attention to get the project funded.

Josi Wiebe, one of the members of the advocacy group for the high school, says the high school is far overdue.

"I have three children in the CBE right now, in Grade 11, 10 and 6. My high schoolers are exhausted from the trek and the lengths that they have to go to every day just to get their education. There are 120,000 people in this area. We pass by two existing CBE high schools on our way to get to their high school down in Crescent Heights."

She hopes that a school will be built in time for her youngest to enrol there.

"We've been kicking this can down the road long enough. It's time we act and build this school that's been projected for well over a decade."

They’ll also be meeting with the Calgary Board of Education this week to discuss the issue.

(With files from Brenna Rose)