TR Partnership homeschool program offices expected to move in
By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
THREE RIVERS — The days of the Norton building as an elementary school in the Three Rivers area will soon be coming to an end.
On Monday, the Three Rivers Community Schools Board of Education approved a plan that would see first, second and third grade classes at Norton Elementary, the final grade levels taught at the building, moved to Park Elementary beginning with the 2026-27 academic year.
The move, described by Superintendent Nikki Nash as the “final transition” for Norton, would effectively end elementary school classes at the building after around six decades in service.
“Very difficult decision, obviously not easy, and we’ve been keeping our fingers crossed for the last few years when we started this transition, which is why we did it slowly,” Nash said. “But we are at the point that that final transition is necessary.”
The transition of the final grade levels out of Norton comes almost a year after an initial restructuring was announced by the district in April 2025, which saw fourth and fifth grade classes at the school eliminated and moved to Park Elementary for the 2025-26 academic year, with the school going down to one class each of kindergarten through third grade. Nash confirmed in an email Tuesday there was not enough enrollment at Norton to support a kindergarten class this year.
Young 5s and Great Start Readiness Program students were also announced to be moved to Norton under last year’s restructuring plan, however Nash also confirmed Tuesday that Young 5s did not move as there was only one class, and that GSRP is not affected by the move.
In justifying the transfer of the classes out of Norton, Nash cited declining enrollment in the district, which she said has dropped by 532 students between the 2015-16 (2,686 students) and 2024-25 academic year (2,154 students), an average of over 50 students per year, with a drop of 208 students in the last five years. Nash said projections done by the district in partnership with Plante Moran show such a decline continuing through the 2029-30 academic year. Currently, in part due to the restructuring, only 45 students attend Norton Elementary, according to Nash, with a staff that she called a “very skeletal crew.”
Declining enrollment is not new across the state, Nash said in her justification, saying that declining birth rates, families moving out of the district and out of state, and an “increase in alternative educational options” have been factors in the enrollment decline.
“At the county board meeting last month, they said the state of Michigan has lost almost 300,000 students, so this is a trend statewide and countywide, and then obviously we feel that impact here as well,” Nash said.
By eliminating Norton’s classes, Nash said she believes it would create “long-term stability” for finances and reducing costs that come with the building. She said she hopes to make the transition “as seamless as possible” for families that had students at the building, with plans to send a letter to families about the transition.
“We would include in the letter why we have a declining enrollment, that it’s not specific to Three Rivers, that the current students and staff would transfer to Park,” Nash said. “Transportation would still be provided, and then we would provide dates for them to visit the classroom or the building in August when we return so there’s some comfort in going out to see the building they’re going to be in.”
While there will not be any elementary school classes in Norton in 2026-27 with the move, the district expects to move the offices for the Three Rivers Partnership homeschool program to the Norton building, while the GSRP program will be renting the space. Currently, the Partnership is housed at Three Rivers Middle School after a few years at the soon-to-be-sold Barrows Elementary building. If the Partnership and GSRP utilization is put in place, Nash recommended the “short-term” occupation to last for about three to five years, with the south wing of classrooms blocked off from use.
Nash said doing so will keep the district utilizing the building under the current building code in place, which she said would save money compared to if they had completely closed the school, decided to reopen, and have to get the building right with new code.
“There was a school district north of us that rented out a building to a production company, and as soon as it’s not an educational entity, you have to go through different codes if we have an influx of students,” Nash said. “To keep it as educational-based as we can, I talked with Kerrie Bass about relocating the Partnership out there and she’d also oversee the GSRP program out there.”
Nash acknowledged there is still bond debt with the building thanks to recent renovations with secure entry and new signage, which was one reason why they are not closing and selling off the building completely. That debt, she added, would be in place until the bond is paid off.
Board of Education Vice President Linda Baker said during discussion the plan to preserve the building “makes sense.”
“I think it makes sense to preserve the building by even using it partially, because it’s preserved and somebody’s there all the time to see what’s going on. If it turns out we need the space, it will be ready to use,” Baker said.
Nash said after the meeting there is space available for the classes to transition to Park Elementary, saying there had been three sections of each grade at the building for some time before measures about a decade ago reduced the number of sections from three to two at each grade.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
