Some Seattle schools must close

Wednesday, January 25, 2006 · Last updated 12:36 p.m. PT

By JESSICA BLANCHARD
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Seattle Public Schools must close some schools to recover from ongoing multimillion-dollar budget problems, School Board members acknowledged at a hastily called press conference this morning.

Board President Brita Butler-Wall announced the board will form a committee to develop a proposal for school consolidation and closures.

No names of schools have been announced, and no schools would be closed until the 2007-08 school year.

Under the board's tentative timeline, several months of community meetings will be held this spring. Superintendent Raj Manhas will present final closure recommendations to the board in June, and the board would make a final decision July 26.

Previous estimates show closures could save the district between $6 million and $10 million, beginning in 2007-08.

The announcement wasn't entirely unexpected -- an advisory committee appointed by Superintendent Raj Manhas last month recommended closing schools, along with other moves to balance the district's budget.

The 46,000-student district faces projected deficits of nearly $15 million in 2006-07 and $25 million the following year, rising to as much as $41 million by 2008-09.

Manhas proposed closing a handful of the district's 100 schools last spring as part of a districtwide "restructuring" designed to resolve the budget shortfalls. Widespread public outrage over school closures eventually helped kill the plan.

In July, Manhas appointed 14 people to an independent committee to study the district's financial crisis and come up with solutions. The group, the Community Advisory Committee on Investing for Educational Excellence, released their preliminary proposals last month.

In addition to suggestions on how to improve academics across the district, they recommended charging some parents for busing, paring down central office staff and programs, squeezing more money out of district-owned properties and closing an unspecified number of under-used schools.

In their preliminary report, the committee tread gingerly around the issue of school closures. The group recommended the district could cut 1 million to 1.5 million square feet of "excess" space in schools and other district buildings -- roughly equivalent to 15 elementary schools, one middle school and a high school.

The committee's final report is scheduled to be released Feb. 10.

Any final decisions on any of the proposed cost-cutting moves, including which schools to shutter, would be up to the school board.

P-I reporter Jessica Blanchard can be reached at 206-448-8322 or jessicablanchard@seattlepi.com.

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