Some things are changing at Benton Harbor Area Schools. At this week’s meeting of the board of education, trustees heard from Superintendent Andrae Townsel he’ll have some facilities recommendations at a retreat with them later this month. One idea is to arrange things so students only have to go to three different buildings throughout their years in the district. They would be at an elementary school, a middle school, and then a high school. Townsel told us more.
“It’s just an idea that we’re exploring,” Townsel said. “I know I mentioned that when I was interviewing here, and it’s just an opportunity to unpack that idea and see what’s possible.”
Townsel said the idea is to be a little more traditional. Another idea backed by board President Joseph Taylor is to change the names of some of the schools to more clearly reflect what they are. For example, instead of being the Arts and Communications Academy, the district’s middle school would just be called Fairplain Middle School, and instead of being the International Academy at Hull, it would just be Hull Elementary School. Additionally this week, Townsel recommended to the school board that it change its meeting schedule to just one meeting per month. All trustees seemed to be on board with the idea. They could vote on it next week.
