WATERLOO - Attendees at a town hall meeting Thursday continued questioning the motivation behind a proposal to close Longfellow Elementary School.

The proposal was announced last month as part of a recommendation to balance Waterloo Community Schools' 2008-09 budget by cutting up to $1.5 million. But a number of speakers during the 2 ½-hour meeting at Payne Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church emphasized Longfellow's choice over three other elementary schools that were considered. Those included Orange, Edison and Black Hawk elementaries - all of which officials say are in areas better situated for future enrollment growth.

"It is clear that the decision to close Longfellow school is not solely based on finances," said Michael Blackwell, director of the University of Northern Iowa's Center for Multicultural Education. Blackwell noted the district's recommendation focused on "what is prime real estate," which he called "kowtowing to developers." He also cited "archaic, prejudicial" attitudes about the east side, a more heavily minority and low-income area where Longfellow is located.

"I think primarily it's because our people are regarded as disposable," said Blackwell, of why the proposal focuses on closing Longfellow.

Community activist David Goodson echoed those concerns.

"We may have good people, but good people sometimes make terrible decisions," he said. "I think race is still at the heart of much of this."

Blackwell made a case that closing the school would impact the vitality of the surrounding neighborhood, a theme sounded by other speakers as well.

"Our neighborhood will completely lose its identity without the Longfellow school," said Renee Carson, president of Common Ground Neighborhood Association and one of the community organizers of the meeting.

"Our kids deserve to be educated in our own neighborhood," she added. "We shouldn't have to watch our kids get bused clear across town when there's a school across the street."

City Councilman Harold Getty ticked off a list of schools that have closed over the years. "And these are all on the east side," he said.

He doesn't want Longfellow to be the next one to close. "I think it would be very devastating to the 3rd Ward and the east side."

"I know for a fact that the timing of closing this school could not be worse and detrimental to this neighborhood," added City Councilman Quentin Hart. He said the city has a "blueprint" for renewing the 3rd and 4th Wards. He also noted recent and pending development on the city's east side.

"We lose a school, we've lost a key ingredient to what's going to make a neighborhood viable," he said.

The meeting took place a week after a district-sponsored input forum, and a day after officials announced they would delay bringing the issue to the Board of Education until April 14 in response to concerns being voiced. The proposal needs to be approved by the board to go into effect.

Superintendent Dewitt Jones recommended closing Longfellow due to a three-year trend of declining enrollment. He couldn't be at the meeting, but was represented by four district administrators. Five of the school board's seven members also attended.

"The cumulative effect has been a loss of 315 students," Patrick Clancy, an associate superintendent for the district, told those at the meeting. Another 125-student loss is projected for next year.

That means reduced state per-pupil funding and greater capacity than is needed in the district's 13 elementary schools.

"It's essential that something happen at this point," said Clancy.

Under the proposal, students would be divided between five other schools based on where they live. Teachers would transfer to other schools, while nine Longfellow support positions would be eliminated. Officials estimate the closure would save $407,000 in operational and staffing costs.

"I just ask that you would think long and hard about this and not take this school out of this neighborhood," said Wanda Martinez, a teacher at Central Middle School. "But, as so many have said before me, build it up."

Contact Andrew Wind at (319) 291-1507 or andrew.wind@wcfcourier.com.