Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system and Michigan education policy.As the Detroit school district prepares to close four schools next month as part of its accelerated phase-out plan, another school in the district will be closing sooner than expected. Thurgood Marshall Elementary-Middle School on the city’s west side is closing at the end of next school year, Detroit Public Schools Community District Superintendent Nikolai Vitti confirmed to BridgeDetroit on May 8. Those students will transfer to the new Paul Robeson Malcolm X Academy building that is slated to open in the fall of 2027. There are more than 350 students enrolled at Marshall, according to the school’s website.Marshall and four other schools – Ann Arbor Trail Magnet School, J.E. Clark Preparatory Academy, Catherine Blackwell Institute, and Greenfield Union Elementary-Middle School – have been on DPSCD’s list of phase-out buildings since 2022 due to low enrollment and high operation costs. The district initially planned to stop enrolling new students at the schools, phasing out grades over time to minimize disruption to families. But during last year’s budget cycle, the district’s board voted to accelerate the closure of Ann Arbor Trail, Blackwell Institute, Clark, and Greenfield Union, as well as Marshall, to save between $10-$19 million. The four schools are closing at the end of the school year on June 5. During a school board meeting on Tuesday, Vitti further explained that the plan changed due to budgetary concerns like inflation and the need to increase salaries for district employees. The closing of the schools are part of the district’s $700 million facility master plan. “We were paying almost $20,000 to $25,000 a student to keep those schools open,” Vitti said. “Meanwhile, we had significant threats from the federal government regarding cuts under the Trump administration, but we also had rising inflationary costs for everything. Whether you’re talking about heating buildings, cleaning buildings, curriculum, technology, buses; everything is going up in cost.” Vitti gives updates on other school closuresVitti also gave updates on the phase-out schools that haven’t been discussed in previous meetings, such as the district planning to demolish all five buildings within the next two years to prevent blight. Yellow bus service will remain for the students affected by the phase-outs, Vitti added. Kids will continue to be picked up from their same bus routes, but instead of going to Ann Arbor Trail, Blackwell, Clark, or Greenfield Union, the buses will transport them to the assigned schools, he said. . During the meeting, board member Ida Short asked about the demolition of Greenfield Union, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. Vitti said the school would have cost too much to repair, as it would have required a $24 million investment to get Greenfield Union back to the condition it was when it first opened in 1916. While an older building on the campus will be demolished, a newer addition will remain open. DPSCD is looking at using the building as a testing site for its special education department, a site for parent engagement, or for central office staff, Vitti said. “If we see a rebound in residential rates, then we will preserve the building with people in it, and we can always build a new building on that campus,” he said. Meanwhile, board secretary Monique Bryant asked if minimal repairs are still being handled for the phase-out schools. Vitti said that repairs would only be addressed if they disrupted day-to-day operations at the schools. “Let’s say there was a gaping hole in a roof and water was coming down and it was in a classroom that couldn’t be moved. We would just invest in patching up the roof,” he said. In regard to engagement, board president LaTrice McClendon asked what the district has done recently to notify parents and the school community about the school closures. When the phase-outs at the five schools began, district officials had meetings with parents and staff members, Vitti said. When the board decided to accelerate the phase-outs around this time last year, the district had meetings with staff members. Families also received letters about the accelerated phase-outs last year and in February, Vitti said. District spokesperson Chrystal Wilson said families at Marshall were notified about the news around the same time as the other schools. Students at Ann Arbor Trail, Blackwell Institute, Clark, and Greenfield are assigned to their nearby neighborhood schools for the fall, which are Dixon Educational Learning Academy, Hutchinson Elementary-Middle School at Howe, Hamilton Elementary-Middle School, and Nolan Elementary-Middle School, respectively. Bryant also asked if students and parents have been given opportunities to visit the assigned schools. DPSCD officials called parents in March to invite them to visit the assigned schools or to talk about sending their children to another DPSCD school, Vitti said. “And we’re having multiple weekend events at the new boundary schools in June and July so that families can become comfortable, meet the staff, meet other families and students,” he said. Former state representative and DPSCD board member LaMar Lemmons spoke out against the school closures during public comment. “The impact of school closings goes far beyond the students, but it impacts the home values, it impacts the quality of life,” he said. “I ask that you reconsider.” Former DPSCD central office administrator Theodore Jones also opposes the school closures. He said when a school closes, neighborhood safety is put at risk, a community anchor is lost, and the neighborhood is weakened. He asked the board if all alternatives for the schools have been explored, such as public and private partnerships. “Have we reached out to home-based child care operators in the area and offered them a chance to run a classroom or two that would both bring in new revenue as well as a pathway to rebuild enrollment over the long-term?” Later in the meeting, Vitti responded to Jones, saying many philanthropic organizations are not interested in funding facilities because they believe that’s the responsibility of districts and local taxpayers. “Even if those funds were available, the question is, ‘How do we address 72,000 seats with 50,000 children?’ We can hypothetically invest in buildings that are being phased out, but to what end?” Micah Walker is a reporter for BridgeDetroit. You can reach her at mwalker@bridgedetroit.com.
