Good schools shouldn't have to fight so hard to survive. But for the second year in a row, Montlake Elementary has to make its case to the Seattle School Board, lest it become one of the 11 schools to be closed by 2007.

There is nothing wrong with the performance of the school. The vast majority of students meet or exceed state standards for test performance and Montlake Elementary has been the best in the district at closing the achievement gap in reading for African-American students.

The problem is that the building and the school site are small and poorly suited to expansion, leaving Montlake Elementary a target for district officials looking to stress economy and efficiency. The plan is that smaller schools like Montlake can close, so that bigger schools in need of students can fill all their desks. Also, an influx of Montlake students might make their new schools better.

But would that change in school be best for the students? Among advocates for Montlake Elementary, the answer is no, and that complicates matters. "This is a difficult thing to decide," says John Eickelberg, president of the Montlake Elementary Parent Teacher Association. "Do you make (the school district) better in the aggregate, so that the best performing schools need to perform worse? I categorically reject that."

Last year, Montlake Elementary was on a list of 12 schools to be closed, but a well-organized PTA helped convince Superintendent Raj Manhas against following through on the plan.

This year there is a new calculation process, balancing school performance issues with school-site factors and satisfaction among parents of students. A 15-member committee was appointed to render dispassionate rulings according to those criteria—but first they must take public comment at eight public meetings, the first of which was last Thursday. (A school district spokesman could not be reached by press time, but it appears the decision-making process belongs entirely to that committee.)

The third public meeting, at Meany Middle School last Monday, drew a large contingent from Montlake Elementary. Given their recent history, the school's advocates have practice at this work, but that's not necessarily a good thing.

"I think it makes it harder, because people are very tired," says Eickelberg. "This isn't a fresh start."

Worse, the uncertainty at Montlake Elementary has led a number of wealthy, active parents—"heavy lifters," as Eickelberg calls them—to send their children to private schools.

IN OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS

DOWNTOWN: Everyone—including the Seattle Times editorial board—is invited to In Loving Memory, a decidedly unconventional memorial to the culture of the victims and survivors of the March 25 shootings on Capitol Hill. It will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 29, near the International Fountain at Seattle Center. The bill is full of live music, acrobats, clowns, and comedy, but this circus has a serious message: "The whole point is to shine a light on this community that [after the shootings] was unfairly represented," says Elise Worthy, spokeswoman for the event. Shortly after the shootings, daily-paper editorial writers questioned the safety of raves—despite the fact that the killer, Kyle Huff, did not bring guns into the rave and was not a member of the community. Performers for the event were chosen based entirely on the input of the survivors and families of the victims. Venetian Snares, an experimental electronic musician, was a favorite of victim Christopher Williamson. Jimni Cricket is a "happy hardcore" DJ who played at the rave the victims attended that night and is a favorite of many survivors. There will be fire spinning and drum circles, most of it taking place at the Mural Amphitheater. "It's meant to be more of a celebration of their lives rather than something more somber," says Worthy. There will be donation buckets, but she says fundraising is a "secondary goal" and that the main objective is to "increase awareness." Admission is free.

The committee will release its list on May 26, and though the meetings thus far have been civil, there is danger that with the stakes so high, one school's parents will resort to attacking another school in a desperate effort to save their own from closure.

"The immediate parent reaction is to protect your child's school," says Kerry Cooley Stroum, who has two children at Montlake Elementary. "But (this debate) has blossomed into a pretty cohesive group of parents and now we realize the power of our group and we're taking a district-based approach as opposed to an individual-school-based approach.

By the same token, Eickelberg holds out hope that there are parents who are unhappy with their school, so much so that they would lobby for it being closed.

The next public meeting will be held on May 11 at 6:30 p.m. at Hamilton Middle School.

tfrancis@thestranger.com