One Roanoke elementary school could become a new academy for overage middle and high school students next year, according to school officials.

The academy, a priority for Superintendent Rita Bishop, will likely enroll about 50 middle school students and between 150 and 200 high school students in its first year. The idea is to boost the city's graduation rate, which hovers around 56 percent, by helping students who may be at risk of dropping out.

School officials have yet to say publicly which school they propose to convert into the academy, a process that would involve transferring students from one elementary school to others and, possibly, redrawing some of the city's school attendance areas.

Opening the academy could set in motion an ambitious process that would reshape the school system's physical appearance, a topic that school board members discussed extensively during a board retreat Friday and Saturday.

It's no secret among school and city officials that declining enrollments and aging buildings may force the school board to make difficult decisions including closing some underused schools, converting them to other uses or reworking the attendance areas.

Board members broached the topic almost a year ago when they learned of leaking roofs in several school buildings. In May, a state-sponsored study recommended closing at least one elementary school. Three months later, Mayor Nelson Harris used his state-of-the-city speech to urge the school board to redraw attendance zones, which have stayed the same for 37 years.

The school board received another report during its retreat last week which, once again, suggested that board members consider closing underused schools and redrawing attendance areas.

The report found that the school system's attendance had declined by almost 1,000 students in the past 10 years. Attendance, which stood at 12,428 students in 2007, will drop by another 1,000 students by 2017, according to the report.

Twelve schools are projected to have fewer than 250 students by 2012, up from eight schools this year.

"Do we want to continue operating schools with a number [of students] of 250? My answer is that no, we do not want to continue operating that," board Chairman David Carson said.

The report also recommended that Roanoke re-examine its patchwork of attendance zones. The current system of busing students dates to 1971 when officials drew up a plan to diversify the city's public schools. Housing patterns have changed over the years to the point where some students who live near a majority black elementary school are bused across town to another majority black elementary school.

But while board members seemed to agree on the need to examine closing some underused schools and on the need to open an overage academy, they differed on the question of redrawing the lines.

Board members Mae Huff and Mignon Chubb-Hale said they had reservations about sending children to schools in their neighborhoods because that would likely result in segregated schools.

"Unless we make sure we have equity across the district, I would not be in favor of it," Huff said.

Others on the board, however, noted that the current system has not succeeded in desegregating the city's schools.

"The busing has not really worked," Courtney Penn said. "Our schools are not really diverse and growing less diverse every year."

For now, board members say they need more study before they come up with any proposal.

"I would imagine that any changes would be over some time," Penn said. "Obviously we're going to need some more information."

Board members also say they are aware that closing schools and redrawing attendance zones can produce some turbulent community meetings. And with municipal elections scheduled for May, any school proposal this year could develop political overtones.

"We are heading into some heavy stuff here," Carson warned his colleagues. "We are the ones who are going to do it, and we are the ones who are going to take responsibility for it."