ATLANTA - The Atlanta school board has approved the closing of seven schools as part of a massive redistricting plan.

Boundaries at dozens of other schools will change under the contentious plan approved late Tuesday night.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (http://bit.ly/HuiFrY) that more than 500 people carried signs and chanted in protest before Tuesday's vote.

The number of schools that will shut down is fewer than the 10 schools recommended for closure in earlier proposals. The board decided to close Parks and Kennedy middle schools and Capitol View, White, Cook, East Lake and Herndon elementary schools.

The proposal is the first citywide school redistricting effort in nearly a decade. The school district is trying to balance enrollment between schools that are as little as 20 percent full and others that are overcrowded