I read with great distress of the possible closing of 10 Seattle schools. My immediate thought was again our children are being punished for the ineptitude of the adults responsible for them.

More than the closings, I again look at the injustice for the majority of the schools that are targeted to be closed and the children who will be most affected.

I understand the fiscal problems. I understand that underenrollment may mean that a building must be closed. I understand that buildings in need of major renovation, with the $20 million shortfall, may need to be considered for closure.

I question, however, if the same set of criteria was applied fairly to all schools. I know of schools with underenrollments that are not on the closure list; but they have parental involvement, money in their PTA budgets and loud voices. Not only are they not on the chopping block, it is my understanding that none of the children from the schools on the closure list will be sent to them.

The most astonishing closure to me is that of T.T. Minor Elementary School and the relocation of The New School. It is my understanding that both of these schools are making great strides and are providing the education that we say we want in our public schools — small classes, improved test scores and academic achievement.

Pat Stanford

Both T.T. Minor and The New School exist because of the goodness and caring of a local businessman, Stuart Sloan. The programs are working, parents are delighted and involved and, yes, the population of the school may be small, but the classes are filled with the number of students deemed necessary for the programs to work.

We all know that more is being required of our schools and the funding is not following. With the closing of these 10 schools, I am very concerned about the outcome of your next levy vote.

If I were a member of the School Board or the school administration, I would be on my hands and knees trying to persuade others of good will to duplicate what Sloan has started. Instead, the doors are being slammed on anyone who might consider partnering with Seattle Public Schools.

I was told that Sloan found out about the closings of his two schools in the newspaper. For shame.

I was told that the children and faculty of many, if not all, of the schools on the closure list, were told the day the Washington Assessment of Student Learning was to be taken and both students and faculty were distraught — a perfect emotional state on the day you are to be tested.

We talk about closing the achievement gap. We want academic excellence, yet you are about to close several schools that are working. You have a school on the list in which most of the students walk to school and it is a state school of academic excellence — yet it is on the list. This should not be about buildings and buses, it's about the children.

I realize these are tough decisions that must be dealt with. Perhaps some buildings may need to be closed; close them fairly and do not destroy programs that are working. The students at T.T. Minor and The New School deserve your serious consideration. Do not separate these children and destroy the effort of the past seven years, and do not let the curriculum disappear.

Again and again, we let our children down. Again and again, those who need us most are on the losing side. It is not fair that these children are victims of our adult inadequacies. I am so disappointed.

Pat Stanford is the wife of the late Seattle Schools Superintendent John Stanford. She now lives in Charlotte, N.C. E-mail her at pstanford@alltel.net