MARQUETTE - North Star Academy students may have found a new temporary home at Northern Michigan University, while the charter school's new elementary school is being built.
"Northern does have classroom space for us," said CEO Karen Anderson. "We can send middle and high school students there."
Anderson said since the new elementary school addition to the school's current building on Wright Street will not be finished by the beginning of school in September, the older students could temporarily be instructed at NMU's Jacobetti Center. The new 79 elementary school students will then be taught at the current North Star building.
"We've been in discussions with North Star," said Cindy Paavola, communications director at NMU. "We're considering their proposal in finding space in Jacobetti that they would rent on a temporary basis."
Paavola added that paperwork on the deal still has to be finalized.
Anderson and the North Star board are still hammering out details of the move such as going through the fire marshal inspection and permitting process.
"We're picking up furniture from the closed school in Munising," Anderson said.
North Star will begin to hire nine new elementary school teachers next week. Anderson said they received 110 applications.
In the meantime, the board is still working on finalizing a loan so construction of the addition can begin, Anderson said.
"Surveying and technical work started today," she said Thursday.
At a special meeting today, the board also decided to file an application for a qualified school construction bond that would help North Star with its loans.
"This is something that came about as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," Anderson said. "It actually gives tax credits to the lender. If we were to get the money, we would not pay interest payments, but only principal payments."