A school bus is parked on the road leading up to the Emily Follensbee School in southwest Calgary. (CBC)

Parents of disabled children who must travel a bumpy, unpaved road every day to and from their southwest Calgary school say the city is ignoring a dangerous situation.

"It is lumpy and bumpy and, you know, big dips and humps, and it is very hard on the children," said Stacey Gerlach, whose daughter Brooklyn, 12, attends Emily Follensbee School.

Brooklyn has cerebral palsy, which requires her to be secured on the school bus for the ride to and from school. The trip includes the 500 metres of unpaved road leading up to the facility that is full of potholes.

"A lot of them don't have the stability and the muscle tone. They can't hold their heads up properly," said Gerlach of the school's students. "It is bouncing them around. It can be quite traumatic for the kids."

'If this was a school with typical children, the roadway would be paved, and why it isn't for children with special needs, I can't understand it.'— Susan Shaner-Cortes, parent council president

The Calgary Board of Education, which leases the school land from the city, said it has been asking the city to pave the road for the last four years.

Board spokesman Ted Flitton said the city indicated the road would be paved this spring during a refurbishment of an Enmax substation next door but then said no work would be done on the road.

"We've had assurances at one point that was going to happen, and now, we learn that that's not [the case], and we think something needs to be done," said Flitton.

"We haven't had any injuries yet that we know of, but I think anything that we can do to mitigate that risk is vital."

Stacey Gerlach, left, speaks to bus driver Deb Patterson, as they help get Brooklyn Gerlach, 12, onto the school bus. (CBC)

Deb Patterson, who drives the school bus route for charter company First Student Canada, said she's surprised no students have been seriously hurt riding on the road.

"Knock on wood. I have not had to have a code blue in the five years I have ever driven," she said.

Susan Shaner-Cortes, head of the school's parent council, believes the lack of action is a matter of discrimination against the school, which has 64 students.

"If this was a school with typical children, the roadway would be paved, and why it isn't for children with special needs, I can't understand it," she said on Tuesday.

The City of Calgary said the road falls under the parks department because it runs alongside a park.

Michael Kenny, a parks manager, told CBC News this is the first time he's heard of the problem and that he would be putting a committee together to look it.