The Omaha school board voted 8-2 to add sixth grade to Norris, 2235 S. 46th St., which currently has grades seven and eight.
Board members Marian Fey and Justin Wayne dissented. Members Shirley Tyree and Mary Ellen Drickey were absent.
Current fifth-graders at Castelar and Field Club Elementary Schools will go to Norris for sixth grade next school year.
OPS officials said the change stems from overcrowding at the two elementary schools, but that it also makes sense from an academic standpoint.
Fey said she couldn't vote for something that she wouldn't have wanted for her children.
Wayne said OPS should configure all its middle schools the same way according to best practices, whether that means schools with grades five through eight, or grades six through eight.
OPS has four middle schools with grades five through eight, and seven middle schools, including Norris, with grades seven and eight.
A new middle school at 132nd and State Streets will have grades six through eight when it opens in fall 2013.
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