Dramatic changes proposed for Seattle schools

A sweeping reorganization of Seattle Public Schools began Wednesday night when a citizens panel recommended that nine schools close, five programs relocate and two schools merge.

In all, 12 buildings would close. Of those, three school programs would move to other buildings in their entirety: Montlake Elementary, Whitworth Elementary, and Summit K12. Students at the remaining nine schools would be dispersed to other schools.

The Community Advisory Committee on School Facilities and Programs will hold public meetings on the preliminary recommendations over the next week before forwarding the list to Superintendent Raj Manhas at the end of the month. Manhas will issue his own recommendations, followed by a School Board vote, in July.

This is Seattle Public Schools' second attempt in a year to close and consolidate elementary schools. Manhas withdrew a similar plan last year after it drew major opposition from the public.

Five schools proposed for changes on this year's list also appeared on last year's list: John Marshall, Pathfinder, Montlake, Martin Luther King and Whitworth.

Proposed changes


Closure: John Marshall alternative and Viewlands, Sacajawea, Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall, Fairmount Park, High Point, Emerson and Graham Hill elementary schools

Relocate: Summit K-12, Montlake Elementary, TOPS program, Pathfinder K-8, The New School

Merge: Dearborn Park and Whitworth elementary schools

The closures, which are estimated to save $4.8 million annually, have been proposed both as a means to help close a multimillion-dollar budget deficit in the coming years, and to address declining enrollment. Seattle Public Schools enrolls 47,000 students — less than half the number it had 40 years ago — but operates 99 buildings, three-fourths what it had in 1965. The district hasn't closed a school since 1989.

Proposed for closure in 2007-08 are John Marshall alternative and Viewlands, Sacajawea, Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall, Fairmount Park, High Point, Emerson and Graham Hill elementary schools.

Summit K-12 would move to the Wilson Pacific multipurpose building in North Seattle; Montlake Elementary would move to the Seward building, and the TOPS program, now in Seward, would move to Thurgood Marshall. Pathfinder K-8 would move to High Point, and The New School would move to Emerson.

Dearborn Park and Whitworth elementary schools would merge in the Dearborn Park building. The district also would close the Hughes building, a former school in West Seattle.

The School Board appointed the citizens committee in March as a way to involve the public in the process. The board gave the panel its criteria for evaluating schools — enrollment, academic programs, community involvement and building condition, costs and space — and divided the city into quadrants. The 14-member committee split into four subcommittees. Members toured every elementary school and studied demographic data, Washington Assessment of Student Learning scores and building-condition reports.

Many of the nine schools slated for closure share common themes: At eight of the nine schools, at least half the students qualify for the federal free or reduced-price lunch program. Most are heavily diverse.

Some schools were expected to appear on the list. Martin Luther King, the district's smallest school, over the winter pitched a merger with T.T. Minor. But others are expected to be more controversial. Many in the crowd at Wednesday's committee meeting were surprised to hear that Sacajawea and Thurgood Marshall made the list.

School Board members said they hadn't studied the list but knew some in the community would be upset.

"How I feel about it is not a done deal," President Brita Butler-Wall said.

Manhas characterized the list as "a work in progress."

Mary Warren, mother of a fourth-grader at Daniel Bagley Elementary School in the Green Lake area, said the committee did a good job of listening to the public. Her daughter's school was proposed for closure last year, and while it didn't make the list this year, Warren said she remains worried.

"I still don't trust the School Board," she said. "There's still that sense that anything can happen. ... I definitely don't feel out of the woods."

Meanwhile Wednesday, the board voted unanimously to devote at least half of the money saved by closing schools to enhancing programs at schools that remain open.

Seattle Times staff reporter Tan Vinh contributed to this report.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com