During a special meeting on December 3, the Flint Community Schools Board of Education unanimously approved an architectural design for a planned new high school, located on Crapo Street on the former Flint Central and Whittier campus.
“This is a win for Flint kids, for our community, and for the long-term success of our city,” Trustee Dylan Luna wrote on his Facebook page.
A new high school on the Central campus has been discussed by the district for many years, but picked up significant momentum and funding support over the past year or so. In January, the board voted to hire Plante Moran to oversee the design of the new school and campus in January. The firm recently worked with the district on major renovations of Brownell STEM Academy and Holmes STEM Middle School on the city’s northside.
The project has moved forward in large part due to the district securing significant governmental and philanthropic dollars for construction, which is estimated to cost around $135 million by the time the new school is completed, although economic shifts like cost of materials could cause that figure to change when construction begins.
In April, the district received $35.9 million through the Michigan Department of Education’s consolidation grants program in support of the project. Earlier this year, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation granted the district $750,000 to support design and planning phases of the high school. On December 4, the Mott Foundation pledged more than $5 million more to support demolition and further design work at the site.
“We’re excited that FCS has crafted a vision for how to bring the former Central campus back to life,” said Ridgway White, president and CEO of the Mott Foundation, in a news release. “FCS leaders and the board of education are working alongside the community to create a welcoming and vibrant space that Flint kids and families deserve. The Mott Foundation is pleased to support the project as we all work together to help Flint kids thrive.”
The district has collected community input on the new high school project through listening sessions over the past few months, including at neighborhood association meetings for the College Cultural and Central Park neighborhoods, which are next door to the Central-Whittier campus. Several residents expressed support for a design that would salvage and incorporate as many unique architectural elements as possible from the historic buildings. The plan approved by the board does have some of those elements, though Luna did express a desire for more as well as more input from the public.
“While I strongly advocated for greater historic preservation and more robust public engagement, I want to extend my gratitude to the community, my colleagues, the administration, the Mott Foundation, The Flint Center for Educational Excellence, Jim Ananich, Senator John Cherry, Representative Cynthia Neeley, Senator Darrin Camilleri, and so many others whose leadership and partnership brought us to this moment,” Luna wrote. “There is still a great deal of work ahead—and meaningful, proactive civic engagement must remain at the center of that process. Together, we can build a high school that honors our past and invests in our future.”
Flint Central closed in 2009. It was the first of the district’s four high schools to close as enrollment has steeply declined in the district. Flint Community Schools once had nearly 50,000 students in the late 1960s at its peak. Currently, the district has fewer than 3,000 students, but significant efforts to update and modernize buildings and infrastructure are part of a plan to bring students back – there are approximately 12,000 more school-aged children in the city of Flint who do not attend Flint Schools.
In addition to the upgrades made at Brownell and Holmes, the district has also recently made significant upgrades at Doyle Ryder and Potter elementaries.
Demolition of the Central and Whittier is scheduled to begin in early 2026, with completion expected by the end of next year.
“Our community is the co-creator of this new high school. When educators, families, students, residents and local partners shape the vision together, the school truly becomes a space that belongs to everyone,” said Joyce Ellis-McNeal, FCS Board of Education president, said in a news release. “Strong, intentional partnerships — with local businesses, colleges, nonprofits and cultural institutions — expand our learning ecosystem far beyond the classroom.”
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