CALGARY -- Calling the decision to slash funding for Exshaw School "short-sighted," provincial Education Minister Adriana LaGrange and Minister of Indigenous Relations Rick Wilson are appealing to the federal government, asking that it be reinstated.

“We are extremely concerned by the federal government's recent decision to terminate the funding agreement for First Nations students attending Exshaw School without a plan to work with these students, their families, or the Canadian Rockies School Division," reads a statement from LaGrange and Wilson released Tuesday.

"This short-sighted decision has forced Canadian Rockies School Division to vote in favour of repurposing the school."

CRSD trustees voted 3-1 on Jan. 23 in favour of directing senior administration to move forward with the repurposing of Exshaw School and attend a meeting, tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, with Indigenous Services Canada and the Stoney Education Authority.

"Exshaw School has been supported by federal funding since 1973. Roughly 99 per cent of the students attending the school are from Stoney Nakoda First Nation," reads the statement.

In December, Indigenous Services Canada cut the school district’s per-student funding from $19,268 per student to approximately $11,500, which officials say amounts to a $1.68 million shortfall that would force the district to close the school.

LaGrange and Wilson's statement says they wrote to federal Minister of Indigenous Services Marc Miller following that decision, expressing concern and urging him to reconsider.

"To date, our requests have gone unanswered," it says.

"This decision by the federal government is not an effective or appropriate way to support the education needs of First Nations students. It will eliminate this important educational choice for a significant number of First Nations families, which may in turn have a detrimental impact on the students attending the school."

There are about 200 First Nations students currently attending the school, which is about 90 kilometres west of Calgary in the hamlet of Exshaw.