On a front porch a few hundred yards from Libbey High, four friends debated the value of the red-brick school that towers over their South Toledo neighborhood.

The chief reason they gave for keeping it open: Students placed into rival schools will likely have a rough time and get into fights, said Marcus Grace, a 23-year-old who attended Scott High School.

"If they say, 'I went to Libbey,' boom, you get into a fight. It's sad, but that's how the kids roll around here," Mr. Grace said. "If you're sending them to Scott High, you're going to have more dropouts."

He said some rival teens identify each other by where they attend school. With that said, he chanted a football fight cheer with a fist pump and laughed.

"It's real important to them in this neighborhood to keep the school open," said 26-year-old Chris Manning, who sat on the Hiett Avenue front porch. "I know the students don't want to go to Scott or Bowsher."

Toledo Public Schools administration placed Libbey on a list of cuts to close a $30 million budget hole projected next fiscal year. The Board of Education plans to debate and finalize the list at a special meeting April 1.

The proposal, drafted in the form of a budget resolution, was given to board members Tuesday. They chose not to vote on it and scheduled the special meeting.

Under the draft resolution, Libbey would be closed whether or not Toledo voters pass a 0.75 percent levy on earned income that would raise $18.1 million annually.

On the list with Libbey is the elimination of all freshman sports and elementary summer school. It also includes laying off half of the district's crossing guards and realizing $3.3 million in adjustments to employee wages and benefits.

If the levy fails, the list would expand to include cutting out sports with low participation, such as golf and tennis, school officials said. It would also include laying off the rest of the crossing guards and closing Toledo Technology Academy and the Toledo Early College High School.

Angry parents and residents have come out to protest the cuts, each with their own cherished program they want to save.

Libbey parents, students, and alumni also came out to several public hearings to protest the closing of the school, which has been placed on the chopping block several times in the past.

Each time, parents and activists have said the school's historic and emotional value to the neighborhood near South and Western avenues far outweigh any budget savings. Some see it as a bright light for students and residents who live in the economically downtrodden area.

But because of its declining enrollment, Libbey isn't eligible for state matching money used for school renovations. And the school system, on its own, can't afford to maintain the nearly 90-year-old school, said board President Bob Vasquez and other school officials.

To keep Libbey in its same neighborhood, the school system would have to find another suitable building, he said.

But he said the board would likely try to keep Libbey students together wherever they're sent. That would preserve the school's spirit and might lessen the possibility of fights over rivalries.

"We really have to be sensitive to these kids and their neighborhoods," he said.

Libbey has about 650 students, considered a small student body for the Toledo district. It follows a "small school concept," offering students two choices: an intensive humanities program, and another called SMART, which focuses on practical studies related to science and math.

Those two programs would likely go away with closure of the school, Mr. Vasquez said.

He said he believes those programs and other special schools represent the future of education. But there's just no money, he said.

School board member Jack Ford said yesterday he'd try to find the money in the budget to save the school.

"It's an anchor for that South Toledo neighborhood. The kids there are trying to make a comeback," said Mr. Ford, who was Toledo's mayor from 2002-2006. "The problem is that it's not on the long-term facilities construction plan, but I feel that, at this point in time, it would create such a hole in that community to close it."

Mr. Ford said he might be able to tweak other proposed cuts to come up with the $1.3 million that closing Libbey would save the school district.

Mr. Ford said he would look for savings and revenue in the food-service budget and push for more across-the-board cuts. It's unclear if those savings could be sustained over time and if the fix would be only be temporary.

School board vice president Lisa Sobecki said yesterday she thinks the community deserves to either have Libbey closed this year or saved for the long term.

"Either cut it or put a stake in the ground and have a plan to make it vital," she said. "Quit saying you're going to close Libbey every year. If you save it this year, then what are you going to do to keep it as the anchor in the future?"

On the front porch of the home, Mr. Grace, the former Scott High student, laughingly taunted 18-year-old Lydia Hoffman, a former Libbey student sitting near him.

She said she first attended Waite High, where she said she fell behind, missing classes and coming late. She transferred to Libbey, where teachers gave her extra attention, she said. She was too far behind to get a diploma, but the experience left her determined to earn her GED.

"They care," she said. "If I was late or missed, they would talk to me and try to help me with my assignments."

Contact Christopher D. Kirkpatrick

at: ckirkpatrick@theblade.com

or 419-724-6134.

First Published March 25, 2010, 9:54 a.m.