By Michael Piwowarski
SAGINAW – In response to declining enrollment, Saginaw Public Schools is getting ready to consolidate their operations.
It will cost them some buildings, and their community some nostalgia.
On Wednesday, Feb. 19, the Saginaw Board of Education voted unanimously in favor of a significant overhaul of the Saginaw Public School District, as reported by MLive.com in February.
The five-year strategic plan calls for consolidating Saginaw High and Arthur Hill High into one new high school. The new facility would be located at the current site of the Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy (SASA); the latter would move to a new facility on the Arthur Hill site.
As laid out in the five-year strategic plan, Saginaw High and Arthur Hill High are to be mostly demolished, saving Arthur Hill’s gymnasium. A section of Saginaw High will be saved and repurposed for after-school programs.
Handley Elementary will be demolished and moved to a new facility on the Arthur Hill site.
The current SASA will also be demolished except for the gym and auditorium to make way for the new high school.
However, a bond sale for financing the work will need to be approved by voters. The district will therefore likely make it a ballot proposal in November.
In addition, Edith Baillie, Nelle Haley, Emerson, Jones, Longfellow, John Moore, Coulter, Houghton, Phoenix/Ricker Middle and Buena Vista High are among the vacant buildings within the school district that are slated to be demolished.
All demolitions are expected to occur throughout the next decade, wrapping up by 2030. Saginaw and Arthur Hill High are slated to close June 2023.