Northwest Roanoke activists and the Forest Park Elementary School PTA president asked the Roanoke City Council on Monday to use its influence to help keep the school open, even as they acknowledged the council has no real power to do so.

The city school board voted on Thursday to close the elementary school next month and open a new academy for overage middle and high school students in its place in September.

During its morning meeting, the council met with the school board to discuss its budget and long-term vision for the schools. Councilman Brian Wishneff asked City Attorney Bill Hackworth if the council could exercise any oversight on the decision to close the school.

"Since we own the building, can you close one school and open another one without council authority?" Wishneff asked.

Hackworth responded that because of the state constitution, which provides that school boards are independent of local governments, the council was fairly limited in its ability to do anything.

Mayor Nelson Harris commended the school board for making a difficult decision.

"To really make dramatic changes and truly impact the school system, you have to make bold and courageous decisions," Harris said. "You have to. You have to have guts. You all have made two what I think are critical and strategic decisions. I respect that. You certainly have my support ... going forward.

"Whatever critical decision you make, you will always have your critics who will seek the easier path of the politics of pandering, but it yields no results. It makes great rhetoric and yields no results," he said.

During its afternoon session, the council heard from five speakers who protested Forest Park's impending closure.

LeVita Washington, the PTA president at the school, said the school is a community center and that closing it would damage the neighborhood. She said the school's students have faced academic challenges, but are making progress.

Community activist Martin Jeffrey railed against the city for making Northwest Roanoke a "dumping ground" for unwanted projects.