The Seattle School Board has directed Superintendent Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson to begin addressing capacity classroom imbalances immediately.

The board says there a $24 million deficit in the budget for the 2009-2010 school year, which must be balanced according to Washington State law. Goodloe-Johnson said that if they do not start planning immediately the district would not be able to effectively address the deficit before the start of the 2009-2010 school year.

While the district overall has excessive room for students, there is an imbalance between where seats are available and where families are currently living.

In North Seattle several schools are over capacity.

The school district hopes that by evaluating the use of existing spaces, revising the student assignment plan, relocating programs and adding portables, that resources will be better distributed to address changing demographics.

Across the city K-12 enrollment has seen fairly steady decline since 1999 and according to Tracy Libros, the district's planning and enrollment manager, it is expected to continue to drop during the next 20 years.

However, between 2007 and 2008 students enrolling in kindergarten in the "North cluster" (includes north, northeast and northwest sectors of Seattle) increased by 127 students.

According to a study those numbers will continue to increase through the 2012-2013 school year.

The district has determined that while North Seattle schools have enough space to accommodate their current students through graduation, there will be an estimated shortfall of 12 to 17 classrooms for the 2009-2010 school year, and 12 to 15 more the following year.

With the current influx K-2 students, the board also anticipates a strong need for additional middle school options in the future.

During the first phase of the new resolution the School Board will address recommendations made on Oct. 29, including several pertaining to North Seattle.

For one, it was recommended that the Jane Addams building, where Summit K-12 currently exists, be "repurposed" as a K-8 school.

Also it was suggested that the student assignment plan be amended to allow dual cluster choice and transportation so that students in the Northeast cluster can attend Olympic Hills elementary school. Furthermore, the School Board will consider working with staff at Olympic Hills to better utilize space and increase capacity.

Each of these recommendations will be voted on at the School Board's next meeting on Nov.12.

Seattle Public Schools has not made any significant revisions to its student assignment plan in over a decade. Geographic reference areas surrounding elementary schools have not been updated in even longer; they no longer reflect current demographics or facilities. The existing student assignment plan is also incompatible with modern technology.

As the new student assignment plan is drawn up this year, implementation will occur during the 2009-2010 school year and enrollment according to the new plan will begin in September 2010.

There will be numerous opportunities available for community feedback regarding capacity management. Comments can be sent to the School Board at schoolboard@seattleschools.org or School Board, PO Box 34165, MS 11-010, Seattle, WA 98124-1165. The School Board office phone number is 252-0040.

Rose Egge may be reached at 932.0300 or rosee@robinsonnews.com