Declining enrollment, rising costs play factor in closing of Baptist Park High School - Taylor, MI - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

Baptist Park School in Taylor has closed. The decision, made Tuesday night, is immediate and final.

“I don’t know how to close something slowly,” Gilead Baptist Church pastor Tom Downs said. It’s like a piece of me has gone with it, but it had to be done.”

After 42 years, the graduates from the class of 2016 will be the last.

Downs cited several factors for the closure.

“Our re-enrollment numbers were significantly down for next year,” he said. “That was a factor. We had to keep tuition low to attract students, but costs kept going up. There wasn’t anything else we could do.”

Downs was a member of the first graduating class from the building, and Principal Roger Cook has worked at the school with his wife since it opened.

“He was my principal when I was going through school here,” Downs said. “He is retiring and they are going to move to Georgia to closer to their children and grandchildren.”

Roger will join a ministry with his son, while Konnie Cook will likely spend a lot of time with family according to Downs.

“That’s part of the storied history we had here,” Downs said. “There are a lot of memories in this school.”

At its largest there were more than 600 students enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade. Last year that was less than 200 in the school.

The daycare hosted by the church, and the church itself are both doing well and will remain open according to Downs.

“The daycare is actually accepting applications for the fall now,” he said. “It fills up quickly.”

Typically about 40 families are enrolled in the daycare each year.

Downs said the school staff has worked diligently to help place the students in other local schools that will offer a similar education.

“We really care about our students and want to make sure they continue to get a quality education,” he said.

The school originally opened in 1974, with kindergarten through 9th grade and later expanded to a full high school.

The school was housed in the educational wing of Gilead Baptist Church of Taylor, located on 12 acres of land. The church is not affected by the school’s closure.

Type of publication: Newspaper When was the article reported?: 06/29/2016 Publication: News-Herald Article Url: [Web Link] Is Registration Required?: no How widespread was the article reported?: local News Category: Society/People

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