FLINT -- Flint school board members approved redrawing of school boundaries after voting to close four schools and reconfigure two others last week.
Flint Northern High School will close as a high school and reopen as Northern Alternative Education Center.
Bryant, Dort and Washington elementary schools will close for good. Brownell Elementary School will no longer be a K-6 building. The district will create a new, STEM-focused program at the Brownell/Holmes campus.
As the school board decided Wednesday night, Northwestern High School will absorb many of the Northern students. There will be no changes at Southwestern.
A couple of board members expressed concern about overcrowding at Northwestern and the rerouting of buses.
But most board members said the plan puts education at the top of their priorities.
“We’re going to assure that your students are going to get a good education. Remember, we are not stopping education. We are closing buildings. You can still get a quality education in the buildings we have,” said Ernest Steward, acting director of pupil personnel services.
Closing the three elementary schools is expected to save the district about $1.2 million each.
School board members said parents will start learning details about the new boundaries beginning Monday.
