The Roanoke School Board's proposal earlier this month to close schools and lay off employees surprised parents, scared teachers and again exposed the often delicate relationship between Roanoke's school board and city council.

Over the years, the elected members of the council and the school board members they appoint have clashed repeatedly over funding and other issues. Recently, the school board and city council seemed to have mended fences, largely thanks to a now-jeopardized city commitment to send the school system an extra $500,000 a year.

But talk of closing schools and laying off teachers could test that relationship, although a majority of city council members have indicated their willingness to help the school system financially. Already, it has injected a political overtone to the school system's budget process as the school board gets ready to hold a public hearing Wednesday on the school closings.

Within hours of the school system's Feb. 5 announcement, Mayor David Bowers drew a line in the sand against closing elementary schools, which he calls an "anchor" in the city's neighborhoods. Bowers said he has been thinking of ways that the school board can close a nearly $16 million budget gap while sparing elementary schools, but when asked for details, he replied: "I'm not prepared to answer that."

Bowers, who has made his opposition to school closings a campaign issue for two decades, also ruled out finding more city funds to help schools.

"There is no more money. I will not vote to raise taxes," he said. "We must live within our means."

School board Chairman David Carson said: "Regrettably, the real world has us facing $16 million in budget cuts. So at this point our priority is protecting children and teachers."

The mayor has also found no support among his fellow council members. Council member Gwen Mason suggested during a meeting Friday that city administrators could find an extra $3 million to help the school system, instead of cutting the amount of city funding by $1.6 million, as is currently being discussed. Council member Court Rosen suggested boosting the city's aid to at least $7 million.

"The question is not whether there is the money. The question is whether this council steps up," he said.

Most council members, apart from Bowers, have expressed more concern over possible teacher layoffs than over school closings.

"It's more about the product of our education system and not so much about the buildings," Councilman David Trinkle said.

All this sets the stage for difficult decisions for the council, because helping the schools could mean cutting funds to other city services.

Roanoke County, by contrast, has managed to avoid such wrenching talks between supervisors and school officials thanks to a revenue-sharing agreement between the two bodies cemented over a handshake about a decade ago. In good years, the county and schools split their budget surplus. In bad years, such as this one, the two bodies share the pain. And because the school system is taking a harder hit from the state budget this year, the county board of supervisors has agreed to increase the county's funding by $1.6 million.

"It doesn't create a lot of arguments," said Mike Altizer, chairman of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors.

In the city, council members have suggested using some of the so-called "rainy-day fund" to preserve teaching jobs, a suggestion that was coolly received by City Manager Darlene Burcham.

"I cannot in good conscience let you use one-time money for what are obvious recurring expenses," she said Friday.

Although the council has almost no authority over the school board beyond appointing its members, it does control the allocation of city funds to schools, roughly 41 percent of the school board's budget.

"I would hope in the coming days or months that we can all appreciate the priority of education," Carson said, adding that he was "enormously grateful" to council members for their attempts to help.

The school board will also unveil a long-discussed proposal Wednesday to redraw school attendance lines, another idea that city council might want to weigh in on. Hundreds of elementary school students are currently bused across town under a 38-year-old court-ordered desegregation plan. Redrawing the lines would send many students to schools closer to home and could save the district about $700,000, officials said. But school board members say they have not made a decision on the plan, which, if approved, would go into effect next year.