Port Huron Schools bond project moving into third and final phase

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The Port Huron Area School district is entering phase three of a $106 million bond proposal to rehab the district’s buildings. According to Superintendent Jamie Cain, during his state of the schools address this past Friday, work on the final four buildings has either already started or will begin once school is dismissed this summer. Those buildings include Fort Gratiot Middle School, Cleveland Academy, Garfield Elementary, and Port Huron High School. Voters in the Port Huron Area School District approved the bond in 2016. The proposal calls for new science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (S.T.E.M.) laboratories, as well as secure building entrances and new technology for students. Friday’s State of the District address was held at the district’s new Early Childhood Center, which was also funded by the bond proposal. This year also marks the final year of classes for Kimball Elementary School. Cain says elementary aged enrollment has declined by nearly 900 students over the past several years, prompting the closure of the Kimball building this summer. As far as other building closures, Cain says the district will continue to study enrollment. “If we need to close another school… we might look at Roosevelt,” adds Cain. Starting this fall, classes at Roosevelt will be consolidated entirely on the first floor of the two story elementary school.