On February 24, 2025, Grand Haven Area Public Schools (GHAPS) Superintendent Kristen Perkowski led a community information session regarding the sudden decision to repurpose Mary A. White Elementary School as a nature-based early childhood learning center. Approximately 150-200 community members attended the event which lasted about two hours. As Perkowski explained that it was purely a financial decision, community members expressed extreme discontent at not having been included in the decision-making process. Community members raised numerous pertinent questions, highlighted the district’s lack of planning, and requested the decision be reconsidered.
At approximately 4 pm on the previous Thursday, GHAPS staff at Mary A White Elementary School was notified that their school would be repurposed as a preschool building. This announcement was followed by an email from the superintendent to parents and caregivers roughly one hour later.
It did not take long for the public to begin discussing the closure on social media. It was clear parents were not happy and most felt blindsided by the surprise announcement. They noted the lack of district planning, transparency, and not being included in the conversation. Some noted a slow-death transformation of the city as resources are relocated to the townships. There was so much community opposition to the surprise announcement that a Change.org petition to “Save Mary A. White” was created and rapidly received over 700 signatures.
At the information session, nearly every chair was filled and people were standing in the back of the gym. After a brief introduction of the administrative cabinet, Superintendent Kristen Perkowski gave a presentation attempting to justify the decision to close Mary A. White. She explained that the district faces a $5.5 million shortfall, that the decision was based on lots of data, and there had been ongoing discussions since November 2024. She listed all of the community coffee talks, strategic planning sessions, and other events where she has received community feedback, and implied closing Mary A. White was discussed during these events. She described how redistricting fell under her purview, and was not a board decision. She reiterated several times that she alone made the decision “to make the call” after discussions with community stakeholders.
In my opinion, her presentation was a gross attempt to gaslight the public. It appeared that the administrative cabinet thought they could throw up some charts with statistics about decreasing enrollments and a budget shortfall and this would be sufficient to explain away the abrupt decision to repurpose Mary A. White. After the presentation, community members were told they could submit questions online, or directly ask their questions to individual staff in attendance after the presentation. The public swiftly and loudly objected to this format. Although the meeting had only been going for about 15 minutes, administration gave an excuse of not wanting to be there until 10 pm, but the public did not seem to care. Shouts of “We want open discussions” and “Everyone needs to hear how you are going to answer these questions“ rang out, as well as comments about a lack of transparency. The GHAPS administration then allowed the meeting to continue as an informal question and answer session.
During the discussion, the public was told the best way to provide feedback was to give public comment at board meetings. However, to our knowledge, closing Mary A. White has never been an agenda item at a board meeting. As noted above, Perkowski declared that closing Mary A. White was not a board decision. Can it really be true that board approval is required to purchase new chemistry text books and band uniforms, yet is not required to approve the closure/repurposing of an entire building? Additionally, although it is true there were numerous opportunities for the public to interact with the superintendent and other administrators prior to the abrupt announcement last Thursday, the public was never presented with a scenario that involved closing Mary A. White Elementary or any other school. In fact, it was not long ago that the public was told GHAPS needed more capacity, and was asked to approve a $155 million bond proposal in November 2022, and split bond proposals in May 2023.
The vast majority of the public appears stunned by this announcement and the lack of transparency that went into making it. During Monday night’s information meeting, a public request was made for the decision to be reconsidered. The public knows there are other options. For example, fifth grade classrooms could return to the elementary buildings while simultaneously consolidating sixth, seventh, and eighth grades into White Pines, and closing Lakeshore Middle School. Community wide fundraising was also mentioned more than once.
A common gripe during Monday’s information session was that district leaders gave the impression that this decision was just part of routine business. Two board members sat in the back and never said a word. Near the end, one member of the public said, “When I look around the room, I see people who really look like they care, and they look like they’re upset, and you look like you want to leave.” Another said, “These are our kids, and you don’t seem to take into account how much it’s hurting them, because to you it’s all about money.” One GHAPS leader said they would take the evening’s session into account when making significant announcements in the future. The public again refocused the conversation. They would like to be included in the decision-making process. They would like the process to be transparent, and they would like the district to reconsider this decision.