STARBASE Battle Creek, a science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) academy which provides supplemental learning for hundreds of west Michigan students, has been closed since early February 2025.
When or if it – and 89 others in the US, Puerto Rico and Guam – will reopen is caught up in partisan budget wrangling in Washington.
STARBASE Battle Creek Director Amber Waterbury calls it a ”discrepancy” in the federal budget, which has only allocated one-third of the academy's $60m budget nationwide. She tells Community Matters what the academy does and how it affects local schools and students from its location at the Battle Creek Air National Guard Base.
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ABOUT COMMUNITY MATTERS
Former WBCK Morning Show host Richard Piet (2014-2017) returns to host Community Matters, an interview program focused on community leaders and newsmakers in and around Battle Creek. Community Matters is heard Saturdays, 8:00 AM Eastern on WBCK-FM (95.3) and anytime at battlecreekpodcast.com.
Community Matters is sponsored by Lakeview Ford Lincoln and produced by Livemic Communications.