Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times

Roanoke School Board President David Carson was somber Thursday as he announced planned cost-cutting measures.

Mass layoffs, school closings and drastic cuts to long-standing programs could be in store for Roanoke's public schools, where officials are struggling to bridge a $15 million budget gap.

Woodrow Wilson Middle School, James Madison Middle School, William Ruffner Middle School, Fishburn Park Elementary School and Raleigh Court Elementary School could be closed or put to an alternative use, school officials said Thursday. The school system is also considering cutting 100 teachers from its ranks, roughly 8 percent of the teaching force, through layoffs, resignations or retirements.

"There's probably not a school that will not be affected in some way next year by the budget cuts," school board member Suzanne Moore said. "We don't know how long this crisis is going to last."

Trimming staff and shuttering schools would save about $9 million. The remainder would come from staff cuts in the central office, wage freezes, the elimination of planning periods in middle school, an increase in pupil-teacher ratios and the elimination of the school system's elementary school swimming program.

School officials are also considering scaling back summer school and getting rid of preschool for 3-year-olds, a program that has shown success and that has been a favorite of Gov. Tim Kaine's.

All told, the $15 million budget cuts for next year represent roughly 10 percent of the current fiscal year's budget. The school board has until the middle of next month to debate the cuts, at which point the district's budget has to be sent to the Roanoke City Council.

School board Chairman David Carson vowed to balance "staggering cuts of this magnitude while not gutting the education of the children of this city."

School systems across Virginia are facing a budget crisis brought on by Kaine's announcement in December that he plans to cut almost $400 million from state aid to education to balance the state's finances in a disintegrating economy. A slowdown in sales tax receipts as well as decreased local revenues from real estate taxes have also battered school systems. Meanwhile, the cost of utilities, health insurance and retirement contributions continues to rise.

Although Congress is debating a federal stimulus package that could provide billions for school systems nationwide, Roanoke school officials said they were not assuming any aid from Washington.

"It would not be responsible to count on any money from the federal government," Carson said.

As painful as the cuts are, few of the board's proposals are likely to generate as much debate as closing schools and laying off teachers. School officials declined Thursday to discuss the details of their proposals, but scheduled a special public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 18 at Lucy Addison Middle School.

Closing schools is also bound to prove politically controversial. Mayor David Bowers on Thursday said he was open to the possibility of closing middle schools, but drew a firm line against touching the city's 20 elementary schools.

"I fought the closing of our elementary schools in the '80s, I fought it in the '90s, I'll fight it this decade also," he said. "Elementary schools provide the anchor to our neighborhoods."

Parents from the affected schools said they were surprised that their schools were being considered for closure.

"We have over 500 students. I don't know where they would put these children," said Amy Lowman, PTA president at Woodrow Wilson Middle. "I don't see that we would be the ones closing. If we did, I would be very surprised."

Judi Bowman, PTA president at Ruffner Middle, said she was "shocked" to hear that her son's school was on the list. "I want to get some more information," she said. "Nobody really knows yet."

Last year, the school board voted to close Forest Park Elementary School and reopen the building as a special academy for middle and high school students.

Ron Emery, an official with the Virginia Education Association who represents the Roanoke Education Association, said he hoped teachers' jobs could be spared.

The school system has been studying the possibility of closing schools and redrawing its attendance lines to deal with the city's declining enrollment for about a year. Board members said that while they had hoped to phase in any changes gradually, the budget crisis has forced them into action.

"We may dig a little deeper than we would otherwise have done," school board member Courtney Penn said. Targeting buildings for closure, he added, "allows us to put our resources into young people."

Roanoke school officials have already decided to move children from Oakland Intermediate School into Preston Park Primary School and use the Oakland building to house the Noel C. Taylor Learning Academy. That would save the $300,000 a year the school system currently spends on a lease for the academy, which serves students with discipline problems.

School officials have also cut back on conference travel, overtime for employees, field trips, food and drink purchases and consulting services to save roughly $1 million this year. And last month, the school board said it would consider privatizing bus service and phasing out an early-retirement incentive to employees after this year. The early-retirement program allows employees to collect 20 percent of their pay for working 20 days a year for five years after retiring. The program costs about $2 million a year.

Board members urged residents to stay calm during budget talks in the weeks ahead.

"What will not be helpful for this board or for the administration is for anyone to lose their heads," Carson said.