MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- The Mooresville Graded School District could be consolidated into the larger Iredell-Statesville school district.

It’s because of an item state senators could put in their version of the state budget.

We know the school district calls this a "scary thing" and is working on a letter to go home to parents tomorrow. The words aren't cast in stone, but it's meant to convey the possibility that the district could cease to exist.

It's a small school district with just 5,000 students.

"I feel privileged,” said parent Chris Lee.

It carries a big reputation.

"It's about why we all moved to Mooresville,” said parent Joe Cullen.

It now has a problem.

"We want it stopped,” Lee said.

Thursday, parents learned a senate bill calls for Mooresville's consolidation into Iredell-Statesville schools is instead supposed to become a few lines in a huge state budget. Easier, parents say, to get lost in the shuffle.

It's not just Mooresville.  The proposal includes merging Kannapolis City Schools into Cabarrus County.

Lawmakers want to save $11 million on things like administration costs, vocational education and preschool disability programs, something Joanne Hough's son needed.

"They can't cut them,” Hough said.

If approved, parents fear lower test scores and redistricting into already overcrowded county schools.

"Bigger isn't always better, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is proof of that,” Cullen said.

Now, parents are preparing for a fight.

When it comes to their kids' schools, if it isn’t broke, don't consolidate it.

"We moved here to be in this district,” Lee said. When asked if she could say the same thing about Iredell-Statesville?

"No, honestly I couldn't,” Lee said.

It's not cast in stone, bills and budgets change before they're approved.

Mooresville residents have fought and won this battle before. Now, they're in the process of organizing a town meeting and possibly a trip to Raleigh.