Facing continuing budget woes and declining student enrollment, the Detroit district says it will close nine schools and replace seven outdated campuses with four new schools.
In addition, four other schools will be converted to charter schools authorized by the district. Roy Roberts, the district’s emergency manager, says the closures and consolidations will save the district about $7.5 million annually in operating costs. First-year closing and decommissioning costs total $2.7 million.
The system has shrunk significantly in recent years; it now has about 70,000 students in buildings that have a total capacity of more than 110,000.
"Rather than continue to support buildings that are far under-utilized, (the district) will close, consolidate and merge schools, allowing for additional resources for a smaller group of higher-quality facilities and to the students in those buildings," the district says.
