ST. LOUIS Hundreds of parents, students and alumni filed into two high school auditoriums Saturday in hopes of saving the citys only military magnet high school from closing.

Some stood in line for more than an hour to speak passionately about Cleveland NJROTC High, a school thats moved twice since 2006 and has faced closure before.

For nearly six hours at two public forums, district superintendent Kelvin Adams listened to story after story, plea after plea.

Students told him Cleveland NJROTC had changed their lives.

Tanasia Robinson said she didnt care about her education before coming to Cleveland last year. When I came to Cleveland, I got a sense of hope, she said.

Connor Coats, a sophomore, said if it werent for the school and its discipline code, he would be suffering academically. I would have become a statistic about the failure of St. Louis Public Schools.

Adams sat on the stage and listened. Rick Sullivan, president of the districts Special Administrative Board, sat in the audience, silently taking notes.

The board is scheduled to vote March 20 on closing three of the citys 73 schools Sherman Elementary, LOuverture Middle and Cleveland which would result in about $1.1 million in savings next year. Saturdays forums were held at Vashon and Central and Performing Arts highs.

School closures are occurring at rapid pace in urban school systems nationwide as districts adapt to fewer students and emptier buildings. Its a move that Adams says must be made if the St. Louis district is to adjust to increasing costs, shrinking revenue and enrollment.

Clevelands supporters werent convinced.

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Students, parents rally behind Cleveland NJROTC High