© 2024 MICHIGAN PUBLIC
91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit 104.1 Grand Rapids 91.3 Port Huron 89.7 Lansing 91.1 Flint
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Whitmer administration proposes closing Benton Harbor High School

outside of Benton Harbor High School
Lindsey Smith
/
Michigan Radio
Benton Harbors' school board voted to close a junior high school. 7th and 8th graders will head to Benton Harbor High School. Seawood said he's taken precautions to seperate the age groups within the school.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration is proposing to close Benton Harbor High School in fall 2020 and send students elsewhere in the corner of southwestern Michigan.

State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks says, "Sitting back and doing nothing is not an option."

In a statement Friday, the state says the Benton Harbor district has more than $16 million in debt and students aren't performing well. Only 3 percent of third-graders could read at grade level in 2018, and no high school juniors were considered ready for college in the past five years.

Eubanks says the state's plan means K-8 students "can get the skills they need" while high school students can get on a path to success at area schools or Lake Michigan College.

The state says the school district will be shut down or turned into a charter school system if the Benton Harbor school board doesn't approve the plan.

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting.
Related Content