HILLSDALE — Hillsdale Community Schools is undergoing a major transformation; one driven by aging infrastructure, underutilized space, and a state-funded study that raised eyebrows and prompted action.
The district recently announced that Bailey Early Childhood Center at 59 S. Howell St. will be vacated after the 2025-26 school year, the initial move in a major restructuring.
Classes will be moved to Gier Elementary School on Spring Street, while third and fourth graders from Gier will be moved to Davis Middle School. Subsequently, seventh and eighth graders at Davis will move to Hillsdale High School.
The decision came following a study by the Michigan Department of Education and Plant-Moran, which revealed Hillsdale Community Schools has underutilized space and several buildings that’ll require millions of dollars in repairs within the next decade — money the district doesn’t have.
Bailey alone needs over $7 million.
The restructuring plan will start during the 2026-27 school year, maximizing underutilized space and current staffers, according to Superintendent Ted Davis.
What will restructuring look like at Hillsdale Community Schools?
Hillsdale High School has capacity for up to 800 students, but there’s only about 400 currently enrolled. Overall district enrollment has fallen by hundreds of students over the past two decades, with roughly 190 eligible children living in-district being homeschooled. There are others, Davis said, enrolled at Will Carleton.
The district is working on a logistical plan to make the transition easier on students, parents and faculty.
“We want to do our best to communicate well, to let families know we understand — and we’re listening,” Davis said.
Davis said he’s already been contacted by concerned parents about seventh and eighth graders intermingling with high schoolers, but the district has a plan for separate lunch times, hallways and a division of the building’s gymnasium.
“We’re trying to create a hallway for the junior high — very little mingling with high school kids,” Davis said.
The district’s transition plan, which could come at the beginning of 2026, will address a number of questions remaining about how Davis Middle School will function next year, and whether or not curriculum will change at Hillsdale High.
The high school is currently on a four-block rotation, under which students transition between four separate classes daily. Meanwhile, seventh and eighth graders rotate between six or seven classes.
The closure of Bailey will help the district save money already allocated for repairs next summer, totaling about $500,000. But those funds alone aren’t enough to cover Plant-Moran’s estimated $35 million in repairs over the next decade.
The district has a voter-approved sinking fund that generates between $900,000 and $1,000,000 per year, and the board has established a five-year capital improvement plan.
“We’re looking at our highest-need areas,” Davis said. “What can be stretched out? What’s essential?”
The district is also exploring what comes next for Bailey.
“We’ve had some interest,” Davis said. “We have to be strategic — it’s always a concern when you sell a building. Will it become a charter school that competes and pulls kids?”
— Contact reporter Corey Murray at cmurray@hillsdale.net or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @cmurrayhdn.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Hillsdale Schools will undergo major restructuring in 2026-27. Here’s what to expect
Reporting by Corey J. Murray, Hillsdale Daily News / Hillsdale Daily News
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