The Lawrence City Commission won’t play the role of white knight to save three elementary schools slated for closure.

That’s despite a 70-minute presentation Wednesday by representatives of the Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods who hoped the city would intervene in the matter.

Commissioners said nothing during the meeting, but indicated afterward that help – in the short term anyway – was not on the way.

“If we had a magic source of money, of course we would do that,” Mayor Sue Hack, a retired teacher, said after the meeting. “But the city’s not in great shape. Neither is the county.”

The city has no authority to accept or reject the school district’s decisions.

But neighborhood advocates said commissioners and their predecessors were responsible for development policies that encouraged the flight of families from the central part of the city, which they said had hurt the viability of older schools.

“You have the power to make the center of the city more family friendly,” neighborhood advocate Arly Allen told commissioners. “Unless this is done by you, your successors will wonder why you let the heart of Lawrence die.”

The Lawrence school board has decided Riverside, East Heights and Centennial schools should be closed as part of a 20-year master facilities plan. Opponents have said closing the schools, in older parts of town, would hurt surrounding neighborhoods.

More than two dozen people attended Wednesday’s session, including school board members Mary Loveland and Austin Turney, as well as Douglas County Commissioner Charles Jones.

Commissioners heard a range of suggestions for the city to help the school district during a financial crisis that helped spur creation of the master plan.

“It has to be a collaboration,” said Jerry Schultz of the Centennial neighborhood. “The city has to take an active role … so there are reasons for families to move back into this area.”

Larry Kipp, chairman of Friends of Douglas County, suggested the city work closely with the schools to plan growth. He also offered the idea of the city imposing a “school impact fee” on the construction of new houses, to pay for schools those new residents will attend.

“These are new ideas, and it’s going to take mulling to get used to them,” Kipp said.

¢ 6News video: Members of community look to city for help in school closings debate¢ See past stories on the school closing debate¢ Frequently asked questions: DLR Group and School officials respond to school closings questions

Afterward, commissioners said they saw long-term value in the ideas offered. That might not be enough to save the schools.

“The short-term needs are harder to attack than the long-term needs,” Commissioner David Dunfield said after the meeting.

Mike Rundle was the only city commissioner who definitively said the city was in a position to take short-term action.

“Yes, but it takes coordination,” Rundle said. “What the neighborhoods are talking about is what the city should be doing – good urban planning.”