Gary Niehaus

Like many suburbs where populations have been falling over the years, Grosse Pointe is facing an all too familiar challenge: school closures in a district with long-declining enrollment.

Officials with Grosse Pointe Public Schools are recommending the closure of either Poupard or Mason elementary schools in the North end of the district, and in the South end of the district, the closure of Maire or Trombly elementary schools.

It’s a big move that will affect hundreds of families, but discussions to close some district schools is just the latest piece in a story of dropping enrollment that has been years in the making.

Grosse Pointe Public Schools Superintendent Gary Niehaus joins Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson to talk about the latest developments in the discussion around school closures and what this means for the people who work at and attend these schools.

Henderson also speaks with Greg Bowens, founder and former president of the Grosse Pointe Harper Woods NAACP, about how the discussion is playing out in the community. Bowens was on the first Blue Ribbon committee looking at the school’s needs.

ChalkBeat Detroit editor Erin Einhorn also joins the conversation to talk about the broader trends of declining school enrollment, resources, segregation and integration, and building closures in Metro Detroit.

Click on the audio player above to listen to those conversations.

