Over the 2020 to 2050 period, Michigan’s school-age population is expected to fall from 1.58 million to 1.48 million children. This will fuel a continuation of a two-decades-long decline in the number of students enrolled in public schools.

As individual schools confront further enrollment declines and the exhaustion of one-time federal COVID relief aid at the end of 2024, many will face the prospect of whether to close buildings with lower enrollments to ensure their long-term fiscal stability.