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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
The Detroit Public Schools recommendation for consolidation, relocation or closure of eight schools under a plan proposed by Superintendent William F. Coleman III and members of his executive staff will save the District approximately $1.5 million and help retain students.
Highlights of the plan, which was presented to the facilities committee of the Detroit Board of Education late last week, are as follows:
• Pitcher Elementary, Post Middle and the Northwest Early Childhood Center would close.
• Crossman Alternative High School, Malcolm X Academy, Westside Academy and Maya Angelou Elementary would be moved to other buildings. However, they will keep their names.
• Students from Owen would take classes at University Public at Pelham. The new school would be known as Owen K-8 School of Choice.
• Mark Twain and Boynton Elementary would merge, but Mark Twain will keep the name. Some students currently attending Boynton would be reassigned to Phoenix and Roberto Clemente.
This proposal is a radical departure from the District’s school closure and consolidation plans of the last several years. Last year, for example, the District closed 29 schools. This year, the focus is on ensuring that displaced students are placed in stronger academic environments and that academically competitive schools remain open.
“We believe that the manner in which schools were closed in previous years may have irked parents, causing many to pull their children out of the District,” said William F. Coleman III, superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools. “We devised this plan by balancing budgetary issues with academics, sensitivity to our students and their parents and common sense. We recognize that closing a school is a controversial issue in any community. But as the District shrinks we must cut costs. However, we want to cut costs in a manner that takes into account the best interests of our students.”
The District’s Deficit Elimination Plan includes projections of a loss of 10,000 students each year over a five-year period and the closure of dozens of schools each year.
“But those projections assume we do nothing,” said Coleman. “We are fighting to recruit and retain students, particularly those who have left us for charter schools, private schools and neighboring school systems. We offer unique academic programs. There are lots of reasons why we are confident that more students will come back home to DPS.”
