HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Butler High School tops the list of 11 schools that face having their doors shut for good because of excess capacity as the Huntsville school board weighs its options for pulling the school system out of debt.

According to an analysis by The Times, Butler and 10 other neighborhood schools operate below the 60 percent capacity benchmark that a state education official gave the Huntsville school system earlier this month during meetings on how to remedy the system's $19.5 million debt.

The other schools are Chapman, Chaffee, Farley, Mountain Gap, Rolling Hills and West Mastin Lake elementary schools; Chapman and Mountain Gap middle schools; and Johnson and Lee high schools.

The Times did its analysis using school capacity numbers from a 2008 consolidation report by the school system and school attendance numbers provided last week by board member David Blair.

State education officials have a separate set of capacity numbers. Those numbers, taken from an ongoing facility inventory prepared by city school officials, show an additional 12 schools under the 60 percent threshold.

Those schools include Challenger, Highlands, Jones Valley, Montview, Ridgecrest, Whitesburg and Williams elementary schools; Davis Hills, Ed White and Providence middle schools; and the system's two magnet schools, the Academy for Academics and Arts and the Academy for Science and Foreign Language.

The schools named in the Times analysis are on both lists. School system officials confirm that those same schools will also finish at the bottom of a new capacity list they were still working on late Friday.

Officials say the new local report, not expected until next week, will show most schools have less extra space than the state now sees. The confusion stems from the difficulty in measuring capacity, which must account for the unique aspects of each school's facilities and programs.

The state also uses average daily membership (ADM) figures in its capacity numbers, which can differ from enrollment numbers.

Dr. Craig Pouncey, deputy state superintendent of education, told board members during his visit earlier this month that they could save $10 million in operation expenses just by closing the system's schools that are under 60 percent capacity. The overabundance of space for its pupils and the use of too many locally funded employees were the top reasons Pouncey gave for the system's deficit.

School board member Jennie Robinson said that, through all the discussions with Pouncey, one thing sticks in her mind.

"(Madison) County has 26 schools; we have 48 schools, and we have just 3,000 more students," Robinson said. "Something is really, really wrong. We've got to get control of our spending."

Butler was the first school on some board members' lips this week as having the most potential for closure. The Times analysis puts the long-struggling school operating at just 31.5 percent capacity.

"Butler is one of the obvious schools for discussion," Blair said. "Between the capacity and the amount of investment we'd have to put into the school to keep it running, it's one we have to look at."

The high school, built in 1968, needs more than $8.3 million in renovations just to remain in operation, according to a study conducted last year by Matheny Goldmon Architects.

Board president Topper Birney agreed with Blair's assessment.

"We've known about Butler for years," Birney said. "It just doesn't look like anything we suggest to keep it going is taken seriously."

Going against the grain, board member Alta Morrison said she didn't think Butler would be closed.

"I doubt that we'll close the building," Morrison said. "We may put another school in there with it, but I don't think we'll close it."

Finding savings by closing schools depends on eliminating expenses such as duplicated positions and utilities. The buildings and the land they sit on could also be sold to recoup some of the district's debt.

The Times reported in March 2010, however, that the school system was not finding those savings after closing three of its schools. The school system expected to pay $116,000 for utilities at the empty Stone Middle School this school year, $58,000 for utilities at the empty West Huntsville Elementary and $53,000 at the empty Terry Heights Elementary.

Completely shutting down a school, which could allow it to fall into even greater disrepair, could further hurt its value and potential to ever be sold.

Of the schools named in the Times analysis, Birney and Blair said they were most surprised that Mountain Gap elementary and middle schools were below capacity. The elementary school is at 50.2 percent capacity, and the middle school is at 56.8 percent.

"I never realized its numbers were that low for that big of a building," Blair said.

Numbers are not everything, however. Capacity is just one factor the board will have to take into account before shutting any doors.

Laurie McCaulley, vice president of the board, said that some full schools could theoretically be shut down.

"Some schools may be at capacity, but their capacity may only be 200-and-something kids," McCaulley said. "We have to factor in the size of the school. It may be that a smaller school is not effective for the whole system."

Location is also key. If both Butler and Johnson were boarded up, for example, it would leave a high school gap in that part of city.

"Geographically, we would have a hard time closing Chapman (elementary and middle schools)," Birney added. "It would leave no schools in an area with lots and lots of people."

Both Birney and Blair pointed to the effectiveness of each school as yet another factor that needs consideration.

"The bottom line is going to come down to this," Blair said. "We need to make whatever changes we can that least impact students in the classroom."

Times staff writer Challen Stephens contributed to this report.