GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Grand Rapids school leaders intend to demolish a vacant building, close schools, and make other changes amid declines in enrollment.
At a meeting on Monday, the district’s board of education approved a series of recommendations as part of its Facilities Master Plan.
It includes goals related to improved learning environments, community involvement, and facility funding.
READ MORE:GRPS looks to combat declining enrollment by 'revitalizing' buildings
“Now that we have our guiding principles of how we're going to be making recommendations, the next steps would include drilling into how schools will be selected and then making sure that we are very intentional about working very closely with those school communities and talking about [it] not from a loss standpoint, but what will get in return,” said Dr. Ledriane Roby, Grand Rapids Public Schools Superintendent.
More specifically, the district wants a 75 percent utilization rate for its elementary and middle school buildings by 2032.
It currently sits around 53 percent, which officials say creates unnecessary expenses.
The recommendations also suggest GRPS level Kensington Elementary School and divest from Alexander Elementary School. Both school closed several years ago and have been vacant since.
Some buildings currently in use would shut down or be repurposed too, but no decisions have been made at this time.
READ MORE: Elementary, middle schools focus of GRPS consolidation plan
GRPS has previously said high schools would not be affected.
An announcement will likely be made by this spring according to Roby. She notes the district would prioritize the impacted properties for community benefit, like potentially transforming a school into affordable housing.
“We’re going to use a rubric of [the] health of building, utilization, what it will take to bring it up to code - all those kinds of different things - and then how do we pair buildings together and programs together,” said Roby. “It’ll be a very layered decision.”
Additional meetings will be held as part of process.
To read the full plan, click here.
