After a disaster sweeps away three quarters of a high school class, an unusual question arises: What should be done with the abandoned classrooms?

For nearly two years after April 16, 2014, when more than 300 students perished in a capsized ferry, the answer, albeit out of administrative negligence more than anything else, had been to preserve them.

Now, with the entering class of Danwon High School in Ansan, south of Seoul, numbering more than the existing four classrooms, the question is being revisited.

"When my kid was in her first year (at Danwon), I tried to be as considerate of the bereaved families as possible," a parent, who refused to be identified, told Yonhap News Agency. "Two years has passed, and I wonder when my child will be able to concentrate on her studies again, with the issue of classrooms still neglected."

Parents other than the bereaved insist on "business as usual," citing the anxiety that these empty classrooms cause existing students.

"(Danwon) is not just where the victims went to school. It's where many students go to school now," a parent said. "Yes, it's important to remember the tragedy and learn from it, but we shouldn't stop existing students from getting the education they need."

On Tuesday, some 30 parents prevented the orientation of new students at Ansan Olympic Memorial Hall, which has since been rescheduled for Monday. They have also threatened to block the school's entryway if Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education fails to provide a viable solution by Friday.

Parents of the victims, meanwhile, are unhappy with the way education authorities have handled the disaster's aftermath. They say restoring these classrooms would spell an end to any constructive conversation.

"They're not considering what they've done wrong and what they should do differently. Instead, they're trying to erase our memories to return to the pre-April 16 period," said a parent who is a member of a coalition of victims' parents.

A civic group dedicated to remembering the disaster has sided with the victims' parents.

"It's true that the classroom issue is violating the existing students' right to education, but that's actually a secondary problem," said Kim Jong-cheol, head of 416 Memory Archives. "The lack of discussions on how to conclude this ferry incident is regrettable."

Forcing bereaved parents to give up their deceased children's classrooms would only exacerbate their wounds, Kim added.

Torn between the two sides, Danwon principal vowed to come up with solutions shortly.

"It was my mistake to trust the provincial office of education to solve the problem," principal Cho Gyo-young said. "I'll try to devise a solution as soon as possible by talking to the provincial office and the bereaved families."

Meanwhile, the chief provincial educator reiterated his plans to restore the classrooms.

"There's been no change to the principle that the classrooms should only serve as memorial sites by Jan. 12," Lee Jae-jung, head of GPOE, said. "From then on, classrooms should fulfill their normal purposes. There isn't much time until new students start school, but we'll try our best to normalize the situation as soon as possible."

The Internet has shown much sympathy for the parents of existing students, although many agreed the bereaved parents did not receive proper compensation.

"It's unfortunate what happened to the victims, but memorializing and preventing similar incidents is what adults should do. Existing students are innocent bystanders," a Naver user with the ID star**** said.

"We should never forget about the accident, but depriving classrooms from other students sounds very unnatural to me," another Naver user onsr**** said. (Yonhap)