Deborah DeRogee has been involved at Reo Elementary School for the past 20 years.

"If Reo closes it's going to be really hard on the neighborhood," DeRogee said. "A lot of people move into that area so their kids can go to that school."

At the end of January, the Lansing School District's Chief Operating Officer recommended to close Reo and Willow Elementary Schools as the first phase of a district restructuring plan.

"At some point you reach a stage where you have to tailor your resources to the amount of students you have," Lansing School District COO, Brian Ralph, said.

School Board President Myra Ford has said the plan is a good idea, but has asked for more time and research before the board makes a final decision. The extra time has given parents an opportunity to think about their children losing their teachers.

"The teachers there are there every year," DeRogee said. "They're the same teachers."

"When I say you know everybody you pretty much know everybody in there," Pamela Miller, a Willow Elementary School parent, said.

School administrators say the restructuring will help save money, but will not solve the budget deficit.

As the district works to sort out the decision, open meetings are scheduled for the month of February. There will be two more meetings this month, one on February 15 at 6:30 p.m. at Pattengill Middle School and February 23 at 6 p.m. at Reo Elementary School.