Chicago Public Schools officials said Wednesday the district has the resources needed to close as many schools as deemed necessary.

The issue came up at Wednesday's board meeting after the Tribune reported that the commission studying school closings is leaning toward a recommendation that a relatively small number of schools be shut down because some members don't believe the district can successfully close a large number in a single year.

"There's been questions raised about our capacity to handle such a change with the resources we have," board Vice President Jesse Ruiz asked. "Do we have resources to successfully tackle our changes?"

CPS chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett said she has put together a team to study all angles of the issue, from ensuring that education materials and academic plans are moved to new locations, to taking care of safety concerns.

"This is not about buildings to me," Byrd-Bennett said at Wednesday's meeting. "This is about really moving the heart, blood and soul of children and families. That's delicate and it must be done with respect and the kind of nurturing and support that children and families need in that transition."

How many schools will be on the closing list due from the district by March 31 is not known. Chief Transformation Officer Todd Babbitz said he doesn't "believe that the district lacks the resources in order to do this successfully."

The district says that school closings are necessary because many buildings are underutilized and that it needs to find savings in the face of a looming $1 billion budget deficit.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday said "the whole goal here, and what I think is important is, we know the size of our problem."

"We know the amount of time it has been deferred and delayed in being dealt with," he said. "And we know this is the year to finally step up and deal with it. I look forward, and more importantly Barbara and the board look forward to getting the recommendations (from the school closing commission) and looking at them."

In a preliminary report issued this month, the Commission on School Utilization raised the issue of CPS' ability to close a large number of schools.

"The district has never before attempted school closings on a large scale," the report said. "In fact, CPS hasn't closed as many as a dozen schools in one year."

At the Wednesday meeting, board member Andrea Zopp repeated that concern.

"Last year, we were challenged when we did 10 schools," Zopp said. "It is a resource issue."

Board members Wednesday also approved a new school-year calendar that will put all students on the same schedule in a year that will start Aug. 26 — at least a week before most students now start school — and end June 10.

Tribune reporter John Byrne contributed.

nahmed@tribune.com