Hillsdale Community Schools will close the Bailey Early Childhood Center building at the end of this academic year and shift grade levels across its remaining buildings.
“Our buildings are approaching 80 years old,” Superintendent Ted Davis said in a video presentation on Oct. 17. “As the age of the buildings gets older, they’re going to require more repairs.”
A state-led facilities study by Plante Moran, a management consulting company, found nearly $7.3 million in needed renovations at Bailey over the next nine years, according to Davis. The report also listed about $16–17 million in repairs for Davis Middle School, $4.5 million for Gier Elementary, and $13 million for Hillsdale High School.
“If we were to start over and build all brand new buildings, the total replacement cost is over $100 million in our district,” Davis said in the video. “That’s not the plan, I can assure you.”
Instead, the school board decided to close Bailey due to the general repair costs and not being compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Bailey was constructed in 1936,” Davis said in the video. “It’s not ADA compliant and doesn’t have proper fire escapes or an elevator.”
School Board Member Matthew Gordon said closing Bailey was a wise financial decision.
“It is only ADA compliant on the first floor, so we can’t use the third floor or anything like that, which means a very small portion of the building is actually being used,” Gordon said. “We decided to consolidate into three schools after we close Bailey, which is just a better use of facilities.”
Beginning next year, Gier Elementary will serve pre-kindergarten through second grade, Davis will become an intermediate school for grades three through six, and the high school will transition into a junior and senior high school for grades seven through twelve.
Davis said the high school plans to make appropriate changes to accommodate younger and older students.
“We are planning to make one hallway, specifically a junior high hallway,” Davis said in the video. “They will have their own lockers, different lunch times, and a divider curtain in the gym.”
According to Davis, further renovations to the high school will include new classroom doors; locker repainting; and updates to the library, cafeteria, and gym.
Davis added that the high school plans to end its 4-by-4 block schedule, which has been in place since 1966. Under that model, students took four longer classes per semester. Beginning in the 2026–27 school year, it will return to a traditional six-hour schedule where students will take six or more classes that are shorter in length.
Rebecca Portteus, secretary of the HCS Board of Education, said no official plans have been made on how the elementary school building will be used in the future.
“That decision has not been made,” Portteus said. “That decision will take place after we look at our options to determine what works best for our students, staff, and the community at large.”
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