Updated 10:11 a.m. CDT

Ames community members and residents lost the fight to keep two elementary schools open Thursday night, as the School Board voted 6 to 1 and approved the closures of Roosevelt and Northwood Elementary schools.

School Board member Roy Cakerice was the only one who voted against the superintendent’s recommendations.

“We need to look at all options from the people; I ask for dialogue,” Cakerice said. “We have awaken a sleeping giant, now that we see the problem let’s do something about it together. We need to slow down.”

Cakerice said he has received e-mails from community members and has never seen such dedication from a group of parents and concerned residents.

“Roosevelt parents are fighting for a vision for their child, we would all do that if it was our child,” Cakerice said.

School Board President Gail Johnston said she believes once the schools close Ames children will continue to receive a quality education.

“The fate of the city and Ames schools are intertwined,” she said.

Closing Roosevelt would affect the community around the school and lower property values, Johnston said.

“I can’t base my decision on that; growth is difficult to predict,” she said. “I vote to support the superintendent.”

Some school board members believe even though Ames parents and community members have put in hard work to find other options, there is not enough money to support the counter-proposal to only close one of the schools.

School board member Mary Ann Dilla said some Ames residents have done more in trying to keep neighborhood schools open in the past few weeks than the administration has in the last seven years.

“Closing neighborhood schools will lead to a devise of down town,” Dilla said. Cakerice said he found some areas in the superintendent’s recommendations that could be trimmed.

“We could give a 1 percent increase in administrative salaries, merge the director of tech. and communications specialist positions,” Cakerice said. “We can save money on bus transportation by saving one elementary school.”

Approximately 125 Ames community members attended the meeting and many left with tears in their eyes and disappointment on their faces.

“This is a joke,” someone yelled as the meeting was adjourned.

Ames Superintendent Ray Richardson said he tried to bring in as many recommendations of the community groups into his budget proposal as possible.