BALITMORE — The Baltimore City Public School board was met with chanting and a packed house at Thursday night's hearing.
WATCH: Baltimore teachers, parents and students fight to keep schools open
Teachers, parents, and students advocated to keep their schools open.
It followed a board proposal to close Renaissance Academy, Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys, and Dallas F. Nicholas Elementary School due to low enrollment and poor performance.
Young students were among many to make their voices heard.
Baltimore Collegiate Fourth grader Zachary Clark said he doesn't think any other school can match what Collegiate has given him.
"I didn't have the exact same education I did have, and I really like this school because I can express myself in a way I couldn't do," Clark said.
His mother, Maya, told WMAR 2 News that she's seen a positive change in him.
"He'll come into school, and he'll greet everyone; he'll shake their hand. All the young men there are boys collegiate come in with a tie," she said.
A collegiate fifth-grade student said he didn't know how to read before coming to Baltimore Collegiate.
He got emotional about the possible change.
"The process of going to a new school is pretty hard," he told the board through tears.
If the closure is approved, Renaissance students would go to Frederick Douglass High, Edmondson Westside High, and Green Street Academy.
But teacher Dr. Deborah Wallace thinks that would be counterproductive for her students.
"Do they have the resources to really work with our students? Are they going to be left by the wayside? They're not gonna feel wanted, they're gonna want to drop out," Dr. Wallace said.
If Dallas Nicholas closes, students would go to Margaret Brent.
But one parent told the board that it makes no sense.
"The conclusion that Margret Brent is stronger in academics than Dallas Nicholas is at best not well supported by the data and at worst in this context is somewhere between incompetent and intentionally misleading," he said, "Is it because one school is next to John's Hopkins? Is it because the other school is sitting in between the district office and their parking lot, and someone would like some extra office space?"
Thursday was a listening session for the board; they did not take questions.
The board will make its final vote on January 14th.
