VANCOUVER - More than 500 frustrated parents, students and teachers packed a Vancouver school gym on Monday evening, delivering pleas to the Vancouver school board to save one of several schools on the chopping block because of a multi-million dollar budget shortfall.

The Vancouver school board held its first of 10 public consultations at Windermere Community School to discuss the future of Sir Guy Carleton Elementary, a 114-year-old heritage building which 380 kids attend in the Collingwood district of east Vancouver.

Each school gets two public meetings, which run through Nov. 7.

The Vancouver school board announced its revised list of potential closures earlier this month after narrowing it down to five from a shortlist of 11.

At tonight's session, the crowd erupted in a loud chant: "Save our school," they chanted, and stamped their feet against the hard gym floor.

A raft of wee students marched into the gym with brightly coloured signs that read "we love Carleton" or "Carleton students want to be heard. "

Prince Mayele, who has two kids at Carlton, came to speak on behalf of local businesses. He said if Carelton closes he will lose all the students who patron his photography and computer shop.

"I will lose most of my clients," he said.

Holding her speaking notes, 11-year-old Olivia Ibiok prepared to give a speech to save the school that welcomed her two years ago as a new immigrant from England.

"It was hard because I was an outsider, but the people were so friendly here and made me feel so welcome in Canada," the Grade 7 student at Carleton said.

Ibiok is concerned about the hundreds of kids who will be split up from their friends and teachers should the school close.

More than 40 people signed up to speak. Many made compelling arguments ranging from the historic importance of the school to the "devastating" impact it would have on the community.

One former student of Carleton shared a powerful story about the friendships that are formed and told the superintendant "by closing Carelton, you are saying you don't care about our community. "

Generations have passed through Carleton's halls for more than 100 years, another woman pleaded. The crowd gave many speakers a standing applause and screamed and waved their arms.

Close friends Lillian Fu and Karen Leon, both 14 and students of Kilarney Secondary, are graduates of Carleton. They came out tonight to fight for Carleton because it has held so many special memories for them.

"It's the centre of our community," said Fu.

The girls worry about the impact a closure would have on friendships.

"If it had closed down and we were split up and had to go to different schools, then we probably wouldn't be as close as we are today," said Leon.

A report to the Vancouver board of education in October recommended the closure of five east-side schools at the end of this school year. They include Sir Guy Carleton, Macdonald and Queen Alexandra elementary schools, along with Champlain Heights and McBride annexes.

They are all in the city’s east side because that is where there are the most surplus spaces because of a decrease in enrolment. The report identified 8,442 surplus spaces at Vancouver schools.

Carleton, for example, is at 73 per cent capacity. Though, if it closes, it will still be the largest elementary school to be closed in a decade.

The board said consolidation of schools will reduce costs for administration, custodians, maintenance supplies and other expenses.

A final decision will be made on whether to close the schools before Dec. 31. If there are closures, they will happen in June.

Projected savings from the closures vary from school to school, with McBride annex at $171,462, while estimated savings at Carleton are $468,120.

The district had to cut $17.2 million to balance its 2010-11 budget.

ticrawford@vancouversun.com