The Seattle School District plans to close more schools due to budget deficits and declining enrollment. It will hold a series of public workshops as a step toward that goal.

The community is invited to two consultative workshops on Dec. 4 and 6 to discuss preliminary recommendations.

Thursday, Dec. 4, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence, Auditorium 2445 3rd Ave. S.

Saturday, Dec. 6, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Filipino Community Center, Main Ballroom, 5740 Martin Luther King Way.

Public hearings will be held at buildings proposed for closure on Monday, Dec. 15, Tuesday, Dec. 16 and Thursday, Dec. 18. Times and locations will be advertised and posted at www.seattleschools.org.

Preliminary recommendations will be presented at a School Board workshop at 6 p.m., Nov. 25 at the John Stanford Center and posted on the district's Web site.

The workshop can also be viewed there.

"The purpose of the community workshops is to consult with the public, present information and listen to concerns and ideas," according to a release from the district. "A number of recent studies have urged Seattle Public Schools to balance its capacity, both in terms of overall excess capacity as well as geographic location."

Building closure timeline:

Oct. 29. Board directs superintendent to accelerate work on capacity management.

Nov. 25. Preliminary recommendations presented by the superintendent, and discussed by the board at a workshop, 6 p.m., John Stanford Center, 2445 3rd Ave.

Dec. 3 *. School Board meeting - discussion of recommendations.

Dec. 4. Community consultative workshop, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m, John Stanford Center.

Dec. 6. Community consultative workshop, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Filipino Community Center, 5740 Martin Luther King Way.

Dec. 15,16,18. Public hearings at buildings proposed for closure. Locations and times will be advertised.

Dec. 17 *. School Board Meeting.

Jan. 6. Final recommendation released.

Jan. 7 *. Recommended motion introduced at School Board meeting.

Jan. 21*. School Board meeting.

Jan. 22. Final public hearing, John Stanford Center.

Jan. 29. Board vote on recommendation.

* Regularly scheduled School Board meetings are televised on SPS TV Channel 26.

For more details, visit www.seattleschools.org and select Capacity Management. Feedback related to capacity management and building closure is welcome. Comments may be emailed to capacity@seattleschools.org, to schoolboard@seattleschools.org or mailed to School Board, PO Box 34165, MS 11-010, Seattle, WA, 98124-1165. The School Board office phone number is 206 252 0040.