Oakland High School auditorium was standing room only Tuesday evening as several hundred parents, teachers and youth showed up to voice their concerns, fears and thoughts about the pending Oakland Unified School District school closings.

Over the weekend, Superintendent Tony Smith released a list of schools he recommends for closure, as part of the district's restructuring efforts.

Under Smith's recommendation, five schools - Lakeview, Lazear, Marshall, Maxwell and Santa Fe - will shut their doors in 2012. The move is expected to save OUSD a little more than $2 million and will affect about 882 students.

In addition to the school closings, OUSD also is looking at the possibility of expanding configuration of schools to grades Kindergarten to eighth grade or sixth to 12th grade. Transformation measures also will come to some existing schools including, Youth Empowerment High School and East Oakland School of the
Arts.

On Tuesday, board directors listened as Smith outlined the restructuring plan, which the superintendent said is needed to address core problems. Smith said there are too many schools and too few students. Currently there are 101 OUSD school sites, with 38,000 students enrolled.

"This is about the well being of the entire city," Smith said. "We've got to figure out how to better support our schools ... Oakland Unified has way more schools than it can sustain."

It was an emotional meeting where more than a couple of public speakers teared up as they spoke about the possible closing of their neighborhood school. Many speakers said they also have concerns about transportation and safety.

"I'm not sure if you realize, but you're talking about community, but you're destroying a community when close a school (sic)," said one Lakeview Elementary School parent. "I don't think the question is what schools are we going to close, (but) the question is why are we going to allow any schools to close in the city of Oakland?"

Many parents and teachers are weary of another round of school closings and expansions.

"You're (going to) psychologically damage these children" said Mercedes Harrison who has two grandchildren at Lakeview Elementary School. "What are we teaching them about their achievements, about their peers, about their school?"

For almost a decade, Oakland schools have been continuously reconfigured in some fashion or another. Buildings have expanded to house more than one school program and small schools have seen their doors shuttered when they failed to meet district benchmarks.

By the 2009-10 school year, the district had shut down or phased out 28 schools, the vast majority being small campuses. Smith said that since his tenure, four schools have closed in the district.

But the district said this reconfiguration process is different.

"The single biggest difference is we're taking a holistic look at the district," OUSD spokesperson Troy Flint said. "We have a long term strategy, a unified theory of action."

The district is expecting to save money through closings and mergers, though it should be noted they also may see a loss, at least in the initial years of restructuring.

A final vote on the restructuring package is expected in mid-to-late October.