Detroit Public Schools’ $700M Proposed Investments in District Renovations  

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*The Michigan Chronicle is discussing the Detroit Public Schools Community District’s (DPSCD) $700 million renovation project in this two-part series. In this first installment, we lay the groundwork for the motivation behind DPSCD’s building advancements from the district’s viewpoint. In the second installment, we learn from a student leader what this move means.  

A multimillion-dollar investment by the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) would mean new opportunities for a district with aging buildings in desperate need of facelifts.    

A recent DPSCD announcement unveiled a proposed Facility Master Plan for the future of school building use in Detroit, according to a press release. The plan is the next phase of the commitment to continue the process of rebuilding the District after Emergency Management through improved school buildings.    

“One of the first things I observed during the superintendent interview process in 2017 was the overall low condition of school buildings. Over the last four years, I am proud of the fact that the district experienced facility investments for the first time in over a decade through unspent expenditures, but this was simply putting a band-aid on a life-threatening wound. Access to federal relief funding provides us now with an opportunity to make a substantial short- and long-term investment in our school buildings that paves the way to a broader investment plan to right-size the district and provide each employee and student with a school building they deserve,” said Dr. Nikolai Vitti, superintendent, DPSCD.   

The Facility Master Plan provides a 20-year facilities’ vision and investment plan for the district. The district requires $2 billion to upgrade all school buildings to a “good” rating based on a Facilities Condition Index (FCI), which determines the extent of facility investment to restore a building to its best operational level. The district recommends investing $700 million by 2027 as it works to acquire access to equitable state funding to address its long-term facility needs. The plan seeks to protect neighborhood schools and feeder patterns, placing students in the best school building possible with the review of FCI, current enrollment, local demographic studies and school building utilization.   

Sonya Mays, president & CEO of Develop Detroit Inc. and also a member of the Detroit school board, told the Michigan Chronicle that the money will extensively help building facilities, keep students safe and provide even more PPE.  

“We also saw an opportunity to use some of that funding and create a better physical environment for students,” Mays said, adding that this is to help students overcome some pandemic-related challenges. “Some of our schools don’t have modern heating and cooling systems so the ventilation can be better.”  

Mays added that the school district is also evaluating endemic measures along with the standards of how they respond to “COVID shifting over time.”  

“A lot has happened over the last several weeks in terms of CDC recommendations,” she said, adding that some of the schools have a large and growing population that needs more than a little TLC, which the funding will assist with. “We took a look at all of that and decided to allocate $700 million of our federal dollars toward building facilities.”  

The plan will support maximizing utilization of district school buildings, improving the overall condition of schools through some new school buildings and renovations focused on HVAC, roofs and masonry. It will also place significant investment in the expansion of Pre-K to strengthen feeder pattern enrollment. All the recommendations will be explained and vetted by internal and external stakeholders through seven public meetings, three of which will be in person. The feedback from those meetings will hone the district’s plan and lead to a final recommendation to the School Board for the $700M investment in facilities by June 2022.   

The highlights of the recommended Facility Master Plan include:   

• Upgrading the District schools’ overall FCI rating from 40 (deficient) to 28 (fair) by 2027 with a $700 million set of investments.  
• Improving overall District utilization rate from 71 percent to 81 percent.  
• $281 million in new school buildings, $35 million to reactivate school buildings for Pre-K and schools to address overcrowding, $82 million to add new buildings on existing school campuses to address overcrowding and improve enrollment, $296 million to renovate school buildings district-wide with a focus on HVAC systems, roofs, and masonry and $11 million to demolish school buildings that will be deactivated.   
• Plans to reactive, sell or preserve each of the district’s unused school buildings and properties.    

“This is another step in the process to making impactful short- and long-term changes to provide a sustainable path forward for the largest public school district in the city and the state; this plan is not set in stone. The plan is thorough and thoughtful, guided by strong data to inform and steer the conversations, engagements and final realistic solutions,” said Board Chair Angelique Peterson-Mayberry. “We need your help. Each community in every feeder pattern will have an opportunity to participate in an engagement session to review the plan. We want to hear from students, staff, families and community members to share their feedback and thoughts to help refine our initial thinking leading to a final Facility Master Plan. We know when everyone does their part, students rise.”   

Over the next two months, the community is invited to participate in the seven public meetings to better understand the district’s initial recommendations and provide feedback on the plan. Below is a tentative set of dates, times, and locations of the meetings:   

• Osborn, Denby, Pershing Feeder Pattern Facility Engagement Meeting Monday, March 21, 6-8 p.m. (online).   
• East English Village Preparatory Academy and Southeastern Facility Engagement Meeting Wednesday, March 23, 6-8 p.m. (online).   
• Northwestern, Central, Western Facility Engagement Meeting Tuesday, April 5, 6-8 p.m. (online).     

• Citywide Facility Engagement Thursday, March 24, 6-8 p.m. (in person), location TBA.   
• Citywide Facility Engagement Thursday, April 7, 6-8 p.m. (in person), location TBA. 

For more information visit https://www.detroitk12.org/.