Following the announcement this week that Northwestern Michigan College has finalized the sale of its Boardman Lake Campus to the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians (GTB), The Ticker spoke to representatives from the Greenspire School - located on the Boardman Lake Campus - about the school's future.

Greenspire’s lease lasts through 2030, and the school has a “tenant option” to renew through 2035. Both terms are included in and protected by the purchase/sale agreement. Greenspire Board Vice Chair Joe McCarthy and Superintendent Mike Schramm both say the school has a positive existing relationship with GTB, which they anticipate will continue through the transition.

Schramm says Greenspire is "grateful to have been a recipient of GTB grant awards over the years," while McCarthy says the school has previously partnered with GTB on "working to replenish sturgeon to the Great Lakes and other environmental-focused projects." The sturgeon program has "had a lasting and meaningful impact on our students and staff," Schramm adds.

GTB's acquisition of the property "presents a number of possibilities for both Greenspire and GTB, which have exciting potential," McCarthy says. Greenspire is hosting GTB leadership on February 11 to "discuss their vision of the property and the potential of a longer-term relationship between Greenspire and the GTB," he says. "That being said, the Greenspire School board began to work on contingencies should Greenspire not be able to continue on the Boardman Lake Campus beyond the lease expiration. We have already looked at other properties and spoken to community leaders regarding alternative locations."

Greenspire's mission will remain to provide "an environmentally-focused, project-based curriculum," McCarthy says. "Our goal is to find a long-term location which helps us support those objectives. These are exciting and interesting times!"