Today Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sent a letter to Benton Harbor school leaders acknowledging that she understands the Board has voted not to accept the state's proposal to close Benton Harbor High School.
Whitmer goes on to say that she believes the state proposal has merit and that "doing nothing is not an option."
She says that "given substantial efforts by the Board to begin crafting a plan" she is looking forward to working toward a solution.
The letter goes on to say that the documents that the Benton Harbor school leaders submitted last week are being reviewed and that the state will be "in touch by the end of this week" to schedule a meeting.
Here is the Motion of the Board of Education of the Benton Harbor Area Schools:
The Board would prefer not to respond to the Proposed Plan at this time because
the Board believes that a response may likely divide our community and create an
adversarial relationship with the Governor’s Office and the other State officials, and
the Board would much rather prefer to have a positive and collaborative working
relationship with all involved in order to create options and solutions. But we’ve
been advised that the Governor’s Office still wanted the Board’s formal response
to the Proposed Plan by today, June 14, 2019.
While the Board believes it does not have the legal authority during the term of the
Cooperative Agreement to enter into any agreements on behalf of the District, we
believe the Board may advise the Governor’s Office that it will not agree to the
Proposed Plan that includes closing the high schools within the District and busing
our students to other school districts within the county.
The Board believes that it is in the best interest of all involved to continue to work
together with State officials. To that end, we will submit a more robust and viable
educational plan for State officials to consider that includes providing our high
school students with the option of attending a majority-minority high school here
in Benton Harbor.
Therefore, I make a motion that the Board not accept the May 24 Proposed Plan.
I hope that this decision will not preclude the State officials from continuing to work
collaboratively with Board representatives as we seek to find a common solution
to the financial and educational issues facing our District.
