DPSCD Announces $700 Million Plan to Rebuild And Renovate Schools

(CBS DETROIT) - A plan to rebuild schools in Detroit is underway.

"Just a recommendation would be to rebuild Cody High School, rebuild Pershing High School, to be a new Paul Robeson Malcolm X in the southwest part," said Detroit Public Schools Community District Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti.

The 20-year Facility Master Plan seeks to protect neighborhood schools and feeder patterns to maximize the utilization of buildings in the district.

"It doesn't mean that every building is currently inadequate or was but many were and you look at the collective state of the facilities most people would agree that they were not equitable," Dr. Vitti said.

Recommendations for the $700 million investment will be vetted through seven public meetings and feedback will be used to help draft the final plan.

"Through this federal funding, Covid Relief Funding, which we've used a lot of that money to lower class size, covid tests, PPE, you know, expanding mental health support, summer school, we're going to use $700 million of the $1.2 billion to invest in our buildings," Dr. Vitti continued.

So far, the budget calls for $281m in new school buildings, $35m to reactivate school buildings for pre-k programs (and to address overcrowding), $82m to add new buildings on existing schools , $296m to renovate HVAC systems, roofs, and masonry, and $11m to demolish school buildings that will be deactivated

"Making more investments, building new buildings with a neighborhood focus on the 12 historic feeder patterns so that we're not talking about dismantling community schools but really rebuilding them," Dr. Vitti explained.

Final recommendations will go before the school board in June.

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 the tentative set of dates, time, and location of the meetings:

• Cody, Mumford, Henry Ford Feeder Pattern Facility Engagement Meeting -Tuesday, March 1, 6-8 p.m. (online)
• 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 Plan Engagement-Monday, March 14, 6-8 p.m. (in person) Location TBA
• 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

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