During a district school board meeting earlier this month, members approved the tentative plan as other school districts have, similarly, been on board.

From a lack of air conditioning in a number of district buildings to awaiting upgrades in buildings – making in-class sessions comfortable would be top priority for students.

It’s anticipated that the school district could receive $700 million in one-time funding (distributed over the next several years) featuring district-wide renovations and roofs and masonry improvements. 

The opportunity to improve school building facilities is a result of Federal COVID Relief Funding and allows the school district to address long-standing facility needs without taxing Detroiters.

“The pandemic has certainly stalled our reform efforts as a school district; however, this investment and the improvement in the quality of our school buildings will jump-start the momentum we had before the pandemic when every metric was moving in the right direction from enrollment, attendance, and student achievement,” said DPSCD Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti.

“One of the most repugnant examples of the injustices our students and staff face is having to learn and work in school buildings that do not meet the standards of wealthier cities and school districts. Unfortunately, we have normalized school buildings without modern HVAC systems, substandard roofing, or rundown masonry. Our children and employees deserve better and this investment will make a significant difference in their learning and working environment,” said Dr. Vitti.

Currently, the District owns nearly 30 vacant school building properties, but the approved plan outlines the construction of five new buildings, five building reactivations and five additions to existing buildings. Planned new buildings include Cody High School, Pershing High School (including a culinary CTC program), Phoenix Elementary-Middle School, Paul Robeson/Malcolm X Elementary-Middle School and Carsten Elementary-Middle School, on the site of the Golightly CTC Building.  

Reactivated buildings include Vetal Elementary-Middle School, Northern High School as a new DPSCD Central Office location and Pre-K centers at the Hancock Building, Adult Education West, and the Fleming Building. The reactivated buildings will address overcrowding in specific areas in the district while also increasing enrollment by expanding seats for Pre-K students.

DPSCD developed a 20-year facility master plan that will ultimately cost $2.1 billion based on its current set of operating school buildings.