Seattle Public Schools has released a list of preliminary closure and consolidation recommendations for the second year in a row. Four schools in the Northwest quadrant could either be closed down for good or moved to other buildings.

The 14-member community advisory committee, appointed by the district in March, recommends that Viewlands Elementary School be closed, sending its students to nearby schools. The John Marshall alternative school building would close and those programs would move to other facilities.

The Jane Addams building would also close, and the Summit K-12 program it houses would move to the Wilson Pacific building. Programs at Wilson would be relocated.

Other schools on the closure list for fall 2007 are Fairmount Park, High Point, Sacajawea, Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall, Emerson and Graham Hill elementary schools.

In all, 12 buildings would close under the plan. Montlake and Whitworth elementary programs would move to other buildings.

Though the list may be altered after more community input, the district will close and consolidate some schools to lessen projected multi-million dollar deficits. The district expects to save $4 to $5 million annually.

Peter Daniels, communication's director for the district, said the school board hasn't had time to review the committee's recommendations yet.

"The idea is to respond to and honor the work of the committee, but it still needs to be looked at thoroughly," he said. "I don't think there will be a lot of tweaking, but there is the possibility of changes."

For closure purposes, the city was divided into four quadrants using Interstate 90 as the north-south boundary and Interstate 5 as the east-west border. The 14-member committee is comprised of three members from each of the four quadrants and two co-chairs.

Using principles and criteria approved by the school board, the committee studied data related to academic achievement, effective family connection, enrollment and facilities. A press release from the district said the committee reviewed input from more that 650 community members through public meetings and written comment.

Daniels said committee members also visited the schools and answered more than 300 emails.

Widespread community protest halted the district's proposal to close 10 schools last spring, including North Beach Elementary. But potential closures were never off the table because the district didn't see another way out of the looming budget shortfalls and declining enrollment.

The district has not closed a school for 17 years. It enrolls 47,000 students, which is less than half the enrollment 40 years ago.

Viewlands Elementary has 211 students enrolled, which is considered low by district standards. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced price meals and Washington Assessment of Student Learning scores have declined in the last few years.

Viewlands principal, Joanne Bowers, said in an interview last month that she understands the district's financial need to close schools. But now the Viewlands community is struggling to "put it all together," she said last week.

"We're pretty heart-broken, but we are also real pro-active people," said Bowers. "It was an unexpected call for us."

Public meetings will be held over the next few days to gather community input before the committee sends the recommendations to superintendent Raj Manhas on May 30. The board will vote on a final list July 26.

Daniels said the district plans to invest a bulk of the money saved from closing schools into strengthening the district.

"It's still going to be difficult for people but we are really trying to keep our goal of investing in the classroom at the forefront," he said. "There's much more work and process to be done."

The final closure plan will take effect in the 2007-08 school year, giving the schools at least a year to prepare for transitions.

But this time, no amount of public protest will stop schools from closing, said Daniels.

The next town hall meeting to discuss school closures is tonight at Hamilton Middle School from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the school's cafeteria. 1620 N. 41st Street. Visit http://www.seattleschools.org/area/cac for further information.