BERRIEN SPRINGS — With the Galien School District set to be dissolved in the coming months, local school officials have been busy trying to come up with a plan for how to divide the district among the neighboring school districts of Buchanan and River Valley.

A decision to split Galien down the middle at Gardner Road — with students on the east side falling in the Buchanan district and students on the west side in the River Valley district — appears to be moving forward.

The proposed plan, which has been recommended by Galien’s board of education, will come up for a vote at the Berrien RESA Board of Education’s July 27 meeting.

Sharon Kalling, president of the Berrien RESA board, said she appreciates the hard work that members of the Galien board have put in over the last several, difficult years.

“We admire you and we support you,” Kalling said to the board. “We hope that with the decisions we are able to make that we can do the very best thing we can for the students who live in Galien and their families.”

The proposal comes in the wake of a decision by the Galien school board to close its doors to students in June of 2012 as a result of declining enrollment.

Since then, the Galien school board has attempted, unsuccessfully, to draw up new school boundary lines with neighboring districts of Buchanan and River Valley.

Now, according to state law, the task falls on the Berrien RESA board, which has to make a decision prior to Aug. 5.

On Monday, Berrien RESA held a special meeting to receive public comment on the issue of where to draw the boundary lines. Members of the Galien school board and representatives from Buchanan and River Valley schools were present.

No public comment was received.

Donna Lausch, of the Galien school board, said most of the Galien community was in support of splitting the district at Gardner Road as opposed to the alternative of splitting it at Cleveland Road.

Berrien RESA Supt. Kevin Ivers said Buchanan and River Valley residents would not have to repay the Galien school district’s bond debt, which sits at 2.18 mills and is set to expire in 2021.

However, Galien residents would have to pay the millage rates of the district they fall in — either Buchanan or River Valley.

Buchanan and River Valley school districts will have an opportunity to appeal Berrien RESA’s decision by Aug. 25.

Since Galien closed, Buchanan has received the majority of Galien’s students through Schools of Choice, according to figures provided by Berrien RESA. Buchanan has received 174 of Galien’s 328 potential students, while River Valley has 87 and Niles Community Schools 15.

Also Monday, Ivers said Caroline Rogers, owner of Cornell North LLC near Chicago, would purchase Galien’s elementary and high school buildings for $175,000. Ivers said Rogers plans to convert the buildings into residential living space.

The money from the sale will go toward paying off Galien’s bond debt.