Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is a public school district that serves Detroit, Michigan, and high school students in Highland Park, Michigan. The district, which replaced the original Detroit Public Schools (DPS) in 2016, provides services to approximately 50,000 students, making it the largest school district in the state. The district has its headquarters in the Fisher Building of the New Center area of Detroit.
The school district has experienced extensive financial difficulties over a series of years. From 1999 to 2005, and from 2009 to the reorganization in 2016, the district was overseen by a succession of state-appointed emergency financial managers.
History 1816 to 1999 Detroit's first school was established in 1816 by Presbyterian missionary John Monteith. The next year, he established a comprehensive school for all grades, including a college, with the collaboration of Gabriel Richard, Augustus Woodward, Lewis Cass and William Woodbridge. Its grade school program failed, but the university program moved to Ann Arbor in 1827 and ultimately became the University of Michigan.
Detroit attempted to establish a public school in 1827, but the teacher it hired died immediately. As of 1840, private schools were plentiful for the city's 2,000 school-aged children whose parents could afford them, and the Free School Society struggled to meet the need for school for the poor through sales of baked goods and tomato catsup.
Under the leadership of mayor Zina Pitcher, a proper public school system was founded in 1842. Thirteen schools were immediately established, all in temporary quarters such as homes and churches. However, as Detroit flourished, 88 schools were built between 1856 and 1900. The schools were segregated until 1871.
A high school, then called Capitol High School, was founded in 1858. After the state legislature vacated its Detroit capitol building and moved to Lansing, the high school moved to its former building in 1863. The building burned in 1893, and in 1896 it moved to a grand new building and became Central High School. The building is today known as Old Main.
Another one of the first schools was Cass Union School, on the corner of Grand River and Second Street. It was built in 1860. The precursor to Cass Technical High School was founded in 1907 within this building. It moved to new buildings in 1912, 1922, and 2005, and became Detroit's flagship high school.
Between 1910 and 1930, 180 schools were built. At its peak enrollment in 1966, the district had nearly 300,000 students.
+Enrollment in Detroit Public Schools Year Enrollment Change from previous figure 1842 2,093 — 1875 13,739 +11,646 1890 23,916 +10,177 1900 39,150 +15,234 1966 299,962 +260,812 1980 211,825 −88,137 2000 168,213 −43,612 2015 47,238 −120,975 2025 48,848 +1,610
1999 to present School closures As the city as a whole struggled with declining population and job losses, enrollment plummeted and schools closed, leaving abandoned schools throughout the city. Michigan's Schools of Choice law, which allowed students to attend schools outside of the city, the opening of new charter schools, and the deterioration of the district's older school buildings contributed to a crisis for the district in the early 21st century. Enrollment dropped by 84 percent between 1966 and 2015, and 287 schools closed between 1975 and 2015, with 195 of those between 2000 and 2015. Of those, 81 schools were left vacant. The closure of schools was disruptive to students and neighborhoods. Many of the district's efforts to secure its closed schools failed or were inadequate, creating blight and opportunities to illegally salvage building materials.
Facilities were also improved during this period. To reinvest in its facilities, Detroit voters approved bond issues in 1994 and 2009 that funded new schools such as Cass Technical High School (2005), Detroit School of Arts (2005),, Renaissance High School (2005),, Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School (2011), Mumford High School (2012), and East English Village Preparatory Academy (2012). The district continues to reinvest in and build new facilities as of 2026, according to its $700 million Facility Master Plan. Planned new schools include replacements for Frank Cody High School and Pershing High School.
Financial crisis Declining enrollment created a financial crisis for the district. In 1999, the Michigan Legislature removed the locally elected board of education amid allegations of mismanagement and replaced it with a 7-member reform board. Six board members were appointed by the mayor and one appointed by the state superintendent of public instruction. The elected board of education returned following a city referendum in 2005. The first election of the new eleven member board of education, with four chosen at-large and seven by district, occurred on November 8, 2005. At the time the district's enrollment was slowly increasing and it had a $100 million surplus .Guyette, Curt. "After six years and four state-appointed managers, Detroit Public Schools' debt has grown even deeper " (Archive). Metro Times. February 25, 2015. Retrieved on January 21, 2016.
Before the district occupied the Fisher Building, its headquarters were in the Macabees Building in Midtown Detroit."Contact Us". Detroit Public Schools. May 10, 2000. Retrieved on November 7, 2009. The district paid the owner of the Fisher Building $24.1 million in 2002 so the district could occupy five floors in the building. This was more than the owner of the Fisher Building paid to buy the building one year earlier. The district's emergency financial manager, Robert Bobb, said in 2009 that he was investigating how the school board agreed to the lease in the Fisher Building. () Reginald Turner, who served on Detroit School Board from 2000 to 2003, said that he was told that it would be less expensive to occupy the Fisher Building than it would to remodel the Maccabees Building. ()
On a 66% margin the voters agreed to return to having an elected school board in November 2004. The board was selected in November 2005 and began its term in January 2006. The final full year that the board was in full control was the 2007–2008 fiscal year. By that time DPS had a $200 million deficit. The district's deficit was $369.5 million by the end of the 2007–2008 fiscal year, and its long-term debt was $1.5 billion.
Emergency financial management
The District was under a state-appointed Emergency Manager from 2009 to 2017. The Emergency Manager had powers to make all financial decisions unilaterally. From 2009 to 2011, DPS finances were managed by Robert Bobb, and from 2011 to January 2015, by Roy Roberts who was appointed by Governor Rick Snyder. In January 2015, Governor Snyder appointed Darnell Earley as Roberts' successor. Earley resigned in February 2016 in the wake of criticism of his decision, when he was Emergency Manager over Flint, Michigan, to switch that city's water supply to the Flint River, resulting in the Flint water crisis.
On December 8, 2008, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan determined the district's inability to manage its finances and declared a financial emergency.Detroit Free Press, January 27, 2009, Chastity Pratt Dawsey, "Granholm Names Appointee", p. A3 Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm appointed Robert Bobb as the emergency financial manager of Detroit Public Schools in 2009. His contract dictated a one-year tenure. The school district began selling 27 previously closed school buildings. On March 3, 2009, Bobb estimated that DPS's current year deficit would be greater than $150M, and requested early payments from the state to meet payroll. He declared that additional outside auditors would be required to properly assess the district's financial situation.
Twenty million dollars of the March 2009 debt was owed to the district's pension system. The DPS school board complained in 2009 that the deficit of $65 million for 2007–2008 school year was caused by accounting irregularities, including fringe benefits and paying teachers off of the books. Much of the deficit was discovered by outside auditors hired by former district Superintendent Connie Calloway in 2008.Gray, Steven (January 25, 2010). "Can Robert Bobb Fix Detroit's Public Schools?". Time. Retrieved on March 28, 2010. Archived from the original on July 18, 2013.
In January 2009 Governor of Michigan Jennifer Granholm installed Robert Bobb as the emergency manager of DPS. She used Public Act 72 to appoint an emergency manager. Bobb closed 29 schools at the end of the 2008-2009 school year in order to save about $14 million per year. In November 2009, voters passed a $500.5 million construction bond issue that would rebuild and replace eight schools, renovate and demolish several others. This restructuring physically changed much of the district.
In September 2011, a new statewide district, Education Achievement Authority, was to take over some of Detroit's failing schools as selected by the emergency manager with up to 16 expected. The deficit was $763.7 million by the end of the 2013–2014 fiscal year, and at that time its long-term debt was $2.1 billion. On January 13, 2015, Darnell Earley was appointed as the new emergency manager for the school district by Snyder.
Highland Park Community High School of Highland Park Schools closed in 2015, and at that time DPS assumed responsibility for high school education of students in Highland Park, Michigan.Lewis, Sharon D. "Highland Park's high school to close as enrollment dips" (Archive). The Detroit News. May 28, 2015. Retrieved on June 23, 2015. "Weatherspoon said high school students from Highland Park can enroll in nearby Detroit Public Schools, another neighboring district, a charter school or the state-run Education Achievement Authority. DPS will be the students' home district."
By January 2016 various DPS teachers made complaints about health and safety issues at DPS schools.Ferretti, Christine. "Duggan unveils plan to inspect all DPS schools" (Archive). The Detroit News. January 13, 2016. Retrieved on January 21, 2016. DPS teachers were striking in various "sickouts" that resulted in schools closing."Detroit Public School Teachers Turn To 'Sickouts' In Protest" (Archive). Michigan Public Radio at National Public Radio. January 14, 2016. Updated on January 15, 2016 Retrieved on January 21, 2016. At that time DPS staff members were uploading images of poor conditions at DPS schools to Twitter, using the tag @teachDetroit.DeVito, Lee. "" (Archive). Metro Times. January 14, 2016. Retrieved on January 21, 2016.
In 2016 a hearing was scheduled for Norman Shy of Franklin, owner of Allstate Sales, a DPS vendor of school supplies. The associated court filings reflect a total of 12 DPS principals and 1 administrator allegedly conspired with Shy in a scheme to fill their own wallets by approving invoices for supplies the schools never received. The alleged corruption started in 2002 and did not end until January 2015. For over 13 years, Shy billed DPS $5 million with $2.7 million feeding the corruption ring. The principals and administrator received kickbacks of more than $900,000.
As of March 2016, financial matters were under the control of a Transition Manager appointed by Governor Snyder, retired bankruptcy judge Steven Rhodes. The financial crisis was ultimately resolved when the state used $617 million to create a new district for operational and administrative purposes, Detroit Public Schools Community District. The old district, Detroit Public Schools, remained as a financial entity to pay off debt. By September 2023, there were 51,000 students enrolled in the district. The district has an elected school board.
Student achievement
National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP)