Closures on table as Seattle Schools faces bankruptcy

By Sanjay Bhatt
Seattle Times staff reporter

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After similar actions by urban districts in California, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis, administrators in Seattle say closing schools would help stabilize the district's financial health and channel scarce resources to teachers and learning, rather than bricks and buses. Seattle hasn't closed schools since 1988, partly because the decision is so politically explosive.

But Seattle, like other urban school districts, is facing declining enrollment at a time of increased costs and accountability. The city's total population is growing, but its percentage of school-age children is shrinking.

No schools have yet been named as targets for closure, which may explain why public reaction to the proposal has so far been muted. Fewer than 20 people attended a School Board hearing Tuesday on the district's new five-year plan.

While the plan outlines at least $100 million in needs to boost academic achievement, raise teacher pay and close future deficits, district officials say there's no revenue source that can reliably finance that other than changing the system's basic structure. In recent years the district has exhausted its reserves, cut payroll and seen its major grants expire.

The board holds a work session Monday and is set to adopt on Feb. 16 the criteria it will use to consolidate programs. That will be four business days after the only public hearing on those criteria. Next month, individual board members will hold community meetings to discuss the potential for school closures.

District managers propose closing the equivalent of 6 to 15 of Seattle's 66 elementary schools and six or seven of the 18 middle schools (which include some K-8 schools). If some programs can be consolidated or school assignments reshuffled to make use of available space in large buildings, fewer schools might have to be closed.

Their recommendation calls for elementary schools to have 400 students, 800-student middle schools and 1,200-student high schools.

Theresa Cardamone, a parent activist and critic of Superintendent Raj Manhas, scolded him Tuesday for not being clearer about how he would pay for the nearly $50 million in academic initiatives proposed in the five-year plan. She said she was upset to learn that closing schools was the answer.

"Why didn't you mention school closures when you gave your State of the District address in September?" Cardamone asked. "What criteria are you using to determine which schools are on the chopping block? When will that list of schools be made public? When will those school communities be able to weigh in on this decision?"

Under a proposed timeline, Manhas would make an initial recommendation on school closures March 16, followed by meetings from late March to mid-May at the schools marked for closure. Manhas would deliver his final recommendation to the board on May 18. The board would hold a public hearing June 2 and act on the proposal June 15.
 
The proposals for identifying which schools will survive are somewhat vague and grouped into four categories:

• Location and capacity: The school can support long-term enrollment projections, is part of a feeder pattern from elementary to middle to high school, and has space to expand.

• Condition: The building has recently undergone major renovation or does not seem to need major improvements, such as a new roof.

• Academics: The school has performed well on state tests, its enrollment has not declined in the past three to five years, it houses special programs or has a very diverse student body.

• Community: The school houses a community asset, such as a child-care center, health clinic, social-service programs or a park.

In 1968, the Seattle School District operated 117 buildings with about 97,000 students. This year, it is operating 94 buildings, has about 46,000 students and uses about 70 percent of its building capacity. Its 10-year forecast shows flat to declining enrollment.

Minority-student enrollment has decreased over the past two years. The district's demographer, Travis Colton, expects that trend to continue because of the city's soaring cost of living and steady suburban expansion south of Seattle.

Opponents of closures, including board member Dick Lilly, say the district ought to try to fill school buildings, such as reconfiguring more K-5 elementary schools into K-6 schools.

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com