The school year in Benton Harbor is underway for the first time in 14 years with a balanced budget. Benton Harbor Area Schools superintendent Andrae Townsel tells our newsgathering partners at WSBT-22 they have been executing their financial plan “to the letter” after Governor Whitmer threatened to close Benton Harbor High School in 2019 due to the amount of debt the district had. Townsel says the district is looking for the academic return on investment with everything they do, adding if the outcomes aren’t there, they won’t invest in it. He says they are “looking for specific tangible measurable outcomes for our kids.”
