Benton Harbor Area Schools Board Of Education To Meet Friday On Whitmer Plan

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Facing a deadline of 11:59 p.m. Friday to make a decision on the future of Benton Harbor High School, the Benton Harbor Area Schools Board of Education will meet at noon tomorrow. The agenda includes discussion of the plan put forth by the Whitmer administration to suspend operations at the high school for at least a few years in order to get the district’s finances and academics in order. Board members met with members of the governor’s administration yesterday in Lansing to present their alternative that would keep the high school open, restructure the debt, and improve student achievement. Governor Whitmer was not at the meeting, but her office says she will be reviewing the plan. Whitmer told a crowd at a Benton Harbor church last week that she is open to any viable alternative that can be presented, adding she does not want to have the entire district dissolved by the Legislature. Her plan would wipe out 12-million of the district’s 18-million debt and turn BHAS into a K-8 district for several years.