How will Seattle Public Schools leaders decide which elementary schools should close?

For months, Seattle Public Schools parents and community members have been asking district leaders to "show their work" to prove that shuttering 20 elementary schools is necessary.

Now, Superintendent Brent Jones and other district officials are endeavoring to do just that.

At Wednesday's school board meeting, administrators pledged to prove to the community that consolidations will improve student outcomes.

Jones said it's a difficult task, but he's willing to seek guidance from outside experts who can help assess academic impacts and ensure a smooth transition.

"To do this, we need to use outside expertise to review and validate, to support us, to provide analysis along the way, and to find opportunities that we may not be able to see, because we may be too close to it," Jones said.

Earlier this week, Jones put off sharing a school closure list until the fall, saying the district needs more time to refine its plan and better engage the community.

In the meantime, Jones promised to spend the summer refining the plan and inviting more community engagement. On Wednesday, he and other leaders laid out more details about how they’ll decide which schools should close.

A few factors they'll consider: The condition of the building, how close it is to another school (and does it have room to accommodate students from another school?), plus current enrollment versus capacity.

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Fred Podesta, the district's chief operating officer, said most of the district's about 70 elementary schools are around 65% full. That's inefficient, he said.

"You’re paying for 100% of the space and you’re using two-thirds of it," Podesta said.

If they shutter 20 of those schools, he said it’d bring the remaining ones to a sweet spot of about 85% capacity.

"We feel that that’s comfortable — that, still, if you’re at 85% capacity, you have room for growth," Podesta said.

The last time the district closed schools, enrollment rebounded and officials spent millions reopening many of those buildings.

District officials also broke down how closing one school would save about $1.5 million a piece, and the tradeoffs if they choose not to consolidate schools, including larger class sizes and about 157 layoffs.

While some parents and community members expressed appreciation for the new information included in the district's presentation — several said they had to rewrite their remarks just before public comment — others remained frustrated with the district and board.

Leslie Harris, a former Seattle School Board member who represented West Seattle for eight years, criticized the delayed announcement of the closure list.

RELATED: Families won't know which Seattle schools may close until fall

She also questioned whether there will be enough time to get feedback from the community.

"You didn't suddenly wake up and realize folks have a desire to be part of the solution. You kick the can," Harris said. "You have been working with a matrix of decision making for at least a year. Why so paranoid not to show that?"

"If the draft list isn't available until September, and if there isn't a draft list already, then that's just plain cowardice," she added. "And negligence."

Jones says a preliminary plan will come out in mid-September and it'll be finalized by the end of November so the board can vote on it in December, before winter break.

Tap the play button at the top of the article or this link to hear the full conversation with KUOW reporter Sami West on Soundside.