Charleston , Kanawha County , West Virginia

Controversy in Kanawha City as angry parents pack Kanawha City Elementary, speaking out against an intervention program that's set to move in in the fall.

Parents say they're concerned for their children's safety, while school officials say it's a pilot program they're proud of, and those kids deserve an education too.

"I think it's just the fear of the unknown," says Kanawha County Elementary Education Director Bob Calhoun.

He went up against dozens of angry parents at a town hall style meeting over what he calls an intervention program, not an alternative school, that's set to start at Kanawha City Elementary.

"These are students that are exhibiting some sort of behavioral issues in the classroom or that have been expelled for non-violent issues," explained Calhoun.

The program will take 12 students, kindergarten through 5th grade, in four, eight week sessions. They'll be housed in a portable outside the school. Calhoun says no violent children will be allowed in, but parents are angry they weren't notified of the plan, and fear for their children's safety. They're questioning how they'll keep the two schools separated.

"We don't get notified until things have already been decided which is happening already," says Kristi Sarrett.

"You take troubled kids that have issues and you put them elbow to elbow in a tight, confined space and you lock them in there and ostracize them out from the rest of the population, you're going to have issues and I don't think it benefits the kid," says Alan Long.

The pilot program, funded by a $300,000 state grant, was initially supposed to be at the new elementary school being built on Edgewood Drive. Calhoun says the money is ready now, and school officials say Kanawha City Elementary was the best choice of four schools when it came to transportation.

"We can get kids from anywhere in the county here," says Calhoun.

A program aimed to get troubled kids back on track, that's causing trouble of it's own.

"Everything that we ask, they haven't thought through. You know, well, we need to think through some stuff. We need to see a little more of that positive feedback in letting the parents know," says Sarrett.

Parents have also started a petition that's gained more than 200 signatures, but school officials say it's a plan that's pretty much set in stone.

When the new school opens in 2014, they plan to move the program there.

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