Grand Haven superintendent outlines 10–15 year facilities master-plan options as enrollment falls

Kristin Perkowski, superintendent of Grand Haven Area Public Schools, told the Grand Haven City Council on Sept. 15 that the district is presenting a 10- to 15-year master-plan framework after a year of community engagement and data review.

Perkowski said the district now enrolls roughly 5,100 students this school year, about 1,000 fewer than in 2015-16, and that the district—s 12 school buildings average about 62 years of age. “We have about 5,100 students for this school year which is approximately a thousand students down from the fifteen-sixteen school year,” Perkowski said. She also said the district—s facility condition index (FCI) averages 68 percent, a level she described as "deficient," and that some individual schools are in worse condition: “Lakeshore Middle School ... is at 80% so we are way over there. Obviously the high school at 34% still in the fair range but the majority of our district sits at the poor to, deficit range.”

The presentation framed the master plan as a follow-up to the district—s strategic plan and as a tool to translate educational goals into facility changes. Perkowski said the district began meeting with architecture and construction partners in July 2024 and collected feedback through town meetings, staff and PTO presentations and an online survey available at gheps.org/masterplan.

Why it matters: District leaders say aging buildings, lower enrollment and changing family needs make long-term facility planning necessary. Perkowski and board members emphasized that changes would likely require multiple funding phases, including one or more bonds, and that community feedback will shape any proposal the board considers.

Key options presented - High school: One option would relocate the district—s Central alternative high school into underused space at Grand Haven High School to gain operational efficiencies and expand 0-to-3 programming. Perkowski said Central serves about 40 students and lacks on-site food service and transportation for after-school programs. That option would keep Central as a distinct program area inside the high school building.

- Middle schools: The district showed several possibilities, including combining Lakeshore Middle School and White Pines into a reconfigured five-through-eight building on the White Pines site and demolishing Griffin Elementary to reduce traffic at Griffin and Robins Road. Other options include rebuilding a new 7-8 campus on the Lakeshore site or renovating and consolidating grades to reduce transitions.

- Elementary schools: Considerations ranged from retaining four or five neighborhood elementary schools with heavy renovations, to a smaller set of three larger elementary campuses. Perkowski said one three-school scenario would retain Lake Hills and create new elementary sites at the Griffin/White Pines and 150 Second/Lincoln parcels, with Griffin and Ferry decommissioned in that model.

Community concerns and operational details Council members and other attendees asked for more data about how many enrolled students actually live inside the district and how many are tuition or open-enrolled from neighboring districts; Perkowski said the district has that breakdown and would provide it to councilors. Council members raised traffic and childcare concerns near Duneside (the new early-childhood site), where Perkowski said the program is full and has a waiting list and the transportation team is "exploring options" to reduce drop-off congestion.

Perkowski said the board—s facilities and operations committee now maintains a top-10 list of critical capital needs and that recent unplanned closures (two days at the high school for a water-line break; one day at Griffin for piping) demonstrate the district—s infrastructure risks. She said heavy renovations would include replacement of major systems such as heating, ventilation and roofing and emphasized that many projects would exceed the scope of routine maintenance funds.

Next steps and timeline Perkowski said the district will collect community feedback through Oct. 15 and bring recommendations from the survey and presentations to a board retreat on Oct. 17. She said the board would make further decisions on which concept(s) to pursue and that the district wants the community—s "level of support" rather than a single chosen plan. Perkowski added that the board would need to decide about whether to seek a bond in early 2026 (January–February) to place a vote later in 2026.

Perkowski encouraged residents to take the master-plan survey (gheps.org/masterplan); she said the district had received more than 1,000 responses since posting the revised concepts the prior week.

The district—s financial and programmatic clarifications included the following figures as presented to council: current enrollment about 5,100 students; about 12 buildings with an average age of 62 years; district-average FCI 68%; Lakeshore Middle School FCI about 80%; Central alternative high school enrollment about 40 students; high school roof replacement estimated at $4,000,000.

Perkowski said the master-plan concepts are intended as starting points for public comment and that any actual construction would be phased and financed over multiple years and bond measures.

Looking ahead: Perkowski said the cabinet will synthesize survey feedback, present options to the board at the Oct. 17 retreat and that the board would likely ask staff for additional detail or phasing. The district will post a progress dashboard with updates and metrics on the district website.