On Nov. 26, Kathi Cronin registered her son for a school that may not exist next fall.

Cronin's 8-year-old daughter currently attends Arbor Heights Elementary. While the parents have completed early registration to guarantee their second child a spot at the school, since the Seattle School District announced a recommendation to close the program, they are not sure where either of their children will attend school.

"I felt like I was put into a bind," said Cronin. "All could do was put him in system."

The district's recommendation has not been made because of any problems with the Arbor Heights program, which is a level one school, but because another program needs the facility. The school district says that because Pathfinder is the only alternative or K-8 school in West Seattle, it is important to maintain and provide it with a facility that costs less to maintain than Genesee Hill, Pathfinder's current home.

Since Maria Goodloe-Johnson, superintendent of Seattle Public Schools, recommended to the school board that Arbor Heights Elementary program discontinue, many parents from the school have voiced their objections.

A number of parents from the school were surprised that the district would consider closing their school, which they say is a model for neighborhood schools that Goodloe-Johnson has praised in the past.

"Arbor Heights is the model (the district is) looking to create," said Dana Varon, secretary of the Parent, Teacher and Student Association at Arbor Heights. "We are already accomplishing what they're hoping to expand in the next few years."

After taking a job in Denver, one parent Sharon Rudd, specifically moved back to the Arbor Heights neighborhood so that her kids could attend the local elementary school. She says that while neighboring communities have experienced crime problems, Arbor Height Elementary has helped educate kids from broken homes and connect members of the local community.

Varon said many people are motivated to move into Arbor Heights so that their children can attend the school. If the program is closes and Pathfinder students are bused in, she says the school district will end up paying for transportation and create a "hollow" community in her neighborhood.

Meanwhile, Pathfinder has struggled in one of the worst school buildings in West Seattle for years now, but members of the school community are hesitant to celebrate the program's possible relocation to Arbor Heights.

"Almost anything is better (than Genesee Hill), and yet the heartbreak of this entire process is very severe," said Jennifer Giomi, president of Pathfinder's Parent, Teacher and Student Association. "I'm happy (the district has) recognized the value in our program, but displacement of a school community is never something we've set out to do."

Goodloe-Johnson also recommended that the district close the Lowell building, home to Accelerated Progress and Special Education elementary programs.

According to the recommendation, students in Lowell Elementary's Accelerated Progress Program could be relocated to Thurgood Marshall, at 2401 S. Irving St., and Hawthorne Elementary, at 4100 39th Ave. South. Students with Special Education needs would be reassigned based on the new Student Assignment Plan, which will be finalized next spring.

At an informal community meeting on the morning of Nov. 26, school board member Steve Sundquist explained that the district has recommended closing the Lowell building because of its high maintenance costs. He also said that the program brings up a legal issue because it places two special education programs together.

Lowell educates only advanced progress and special needs students. As a result it does not offer those in special education the opportunity to learn and socialize with general education students, as state law requires. __

Rand Cufley, a parent with two children in Lowell's advanced program, is concerned about the effects of mixing the program's gifted students with general education programs.

Referring to ideas presented by John Stanford, former superintendent of schools, he said that putting the two populations of students together could stir tension and animosity.

"It is not an optimal learning environment," said Cufley. "Being in a school that has general and advanced education creates an unhealthy dynamic between the haves and have-nots."

Each of the school closure recommendations, made on Nov. 25, were part of the first step in the district's two-month long process to redistribute resources and address an anticipated $24 million deficit in its 2009 budget.

When recommendations were presented at the board meeting on Nov. 25, Sundquist questioned whether the Cooper building, currently used as an elementary school, might be a more appropriate home for the Pathfinder program. He said that the idea will require further research. __

Since then Sundquist has advised parents to suggest alternative options to the board as early as possible, and back up their ideas with as much research as possible. __

"The more specific you can be, the more likely your thoughts are going to be heard," he said.

While Goodloe-Johnson chose to present the School Board with a single recommendation instead of several different options, Sundquist is confident that the board members will have the opportunity to amend individual aspects of that recommendation. He added that the superintendent could come back with a new recommendation in early January. __

Parents and other community members will have the opportunity to respond to the district's recommendation at community workshops. The first will be held at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence on Dec. 4 and the second will be at the Filipino Community Center on Dec. 6.

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