© 2024 MICHIGAN PUBLIC
91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit 104.1 Grand Rapids 91.3 Port Huron 89.7 Lansing 91.1 Flint
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Opposition rising against the sale of Michigan's School for the Deaf

A sign stands at the entrance to the Michigan School for the Deaf in Flint
(photo by Steve Carmody/Michigan Radio)
A sign stands at the entrance to the Michigan School for the Deaf in Flint

There appears to be rising opposition to the planned sale of the Michigan School for the Deaf in Flint.     Meanwhile, a legislative mistake threatens to delay the sale.    

A private developer wants to buy the 85 acre campus for one point three million dollars.    He’ll then build a new school and lease it back to the state for two million dollars a year.  

Freida Morrison is the president of the School for the Deaf Alumni Association.  Speaking through an interpreter, Morrison says she doesn’t understand why the state is selling so much and paying so much.

"Of course the school needs a lot of improvements....But (we) still question of the sale…why (the state) has to sell the entire campus?"

State Senator John Gleason says he understands the alumni’s concerns, but he says the sale will benefit the students.

In the meantime, there is a problem.   The bill authorizing the sale passed the legislature last week, but a wording mistake in the senate version of the bill means the governor can’t sign it.    Gleason hopes to get enough senators back to Lansing next week to pass a corrected bill and send it to the governor. 

Related Content