Bothwell School will house grades five through eight.
MARQUETTE -- After a long meeting, the Marquette School District voted 5-2 last night to move fifth graders from Graveraet to Bothwell next year. That means Bothwell will house fifth through eighth graders.
As for Graveraet, new K though 12 educational uses will be developed for the school including the possibility of it being used as an alternative high school.
"We have a responsibility to the community to preserve the Graveraet building and the Kaufman Auditorium," said board member Scott Brogan. "Those are landmarks."
Because of its significant size and community history, many originally said it would make the most sense to preserve Graveraet. The school currently houses only the fifth grade, which many pointed out is a waste of its 90,000 square feet. So why not convert it into a school to house grades K through 5?
Tuesday night, the board presented a plan that would have done just that. The plan included renovations to Graveraet that would cost over a million dollars, but chairman of the Kaufman Foundation, which provides funding to Marquette schools, said it would have been worth it.
Peter Kaufman of the Kaufman Foundation addressed the board and said, "If the board determines Graveraet to be used as a K-5 school facility, the board will also be helping to address the issue of the district's declining enrollment and reduce school district revenues."
While the board acknowledged the historic significance of Graveraet, they said their true purpose is to maintain education, not history. Those in opposition said as much as they respect Graveraet's history, the renovations needed to convert it to a K-5 facility would simply cost too much and proposed alternative plans.
"There are other ways of doing this without spending this," offered community member Pam Basil. "I think the economic times right now, people don't want their taxes to go up."
Superintendent John Hartwig said, over time, the board will look at other options for grade reconfiguration.
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