Some significant changes are coming to Hillsdale Community Schools next school year.
Superintendent Ted Davis outlined the changes in a video shared with parents and other stakeholders in the district.
Davis said the updated plan, which was recently approved by the school board, includes closing Bailey School at the end of the current academic year and moving the Bailey Early Childhood Center into Gier Elementary.
Davis said third- and fourth-grade classes will be moved from Gier to Davis Middle School, where grades three through six will be housed.
Meanwhile, Hillsdale High School will become a Junior/Senior High, with grades seven-through-twelve housed there.
Superintendent Davis shared a facility needs study that was conducted a couple of years ago by the consulting firm, Plante-Moran.
The study found that repairing the Bailey School building would be more expensive than replacing the usable portion of the nearly 90-year-old facility.
The top floor of the building is currently unusable due to a lack of a fire escape.
Davis said moving Junior High students into the High School will require some changes.
He said a voter-approved sinking fund will pay for some of those needed improvements.
The High School currently has just over 400 students. The building has a capacity of 800 students.
Davis said the goal of the changes is to continue providing the best possible learning environment with the current resources.
The Plante-Moran study found that the Davis, Gier, and High School buildings will require nearly $35-million in repairs and upgrades over the next seven to nine years. Davis is the oldest building at 96 years old. The High School is the newest building at 65 years old.
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