Plymouth-Canton Community Schools will now accept transfers from Northville Public Schools students under two new measures approved Tuesday by the Plymouth-Canton Board of Education.

Michigan now allows students from state-designated “focus schools” to transfer to other schools in the same district. However, because both Hillside and Meads Mill middle schools in Northville were designated as focus schools, the students were able to transfer to an adjacent district.

Focus schools are designated by the state as schools with wide achievement gaps on the Michigan Merit Exam between the top and bottom 30 percent of students.

The Plymouth-Canton board voted Tuesday to allow these students to transfer to Pioneer Middle School in Plymouth.

To date, Superintendent Jeremy Hughes said, three students had intended on transferring into the Plymouth-Canton district.

A fledgling special education program for adults ages 18-26—Growing Our Achievement for Life Success, or GOALS—was created at Plymouth-Canton to teach life skills to adults with special needs. According to Plymouth-Canton Superintendent Jeremy Hughes, Northville didn’t have enough students for its own program, so students will transfer to Plymouth-Canton Community Schools, where they will use the former Starkweather High School facility.

Joslyn Clark, a special education instructor at Plymouth-Canton, said Tuesday the program helps teach business, social and life skills to help adults with special needs hold jobs or volunteer their time.

The arrangement will bring five students from Northville, who will join 17 registered Plymouth-Canton students.

Northville Public Schools will provide transportation arrangements for the transferred students.