New year, big shifts for Detroit schools
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
Detroit public schools begin the 2025-26 academic year Monday.
Whether your kids are in school or you haven't followed school news in years, here's what to know.
📈 Boosting enrollment: The district intensified recruitment efforts this summer.
- The strategy included a $3.5 million marketing campaign and canvassing crews that visited nearly 80,000 homes to tell families about the district and its programs, per Chalkbeat Detroit.
- Enrollment in the district was 49,000 last year — down from 156,000 in the 2002-03 school year.
💸 Chronic absenteeism: Rates exceeding 50% in recent years have pushed school officials to use unconventional tactics to increase attendance.
- The district started paying students $200 in gift cards every time they achieved perfect attendance for two weeks, maxing out at $1,000.
- Providing students with bikes to solve transportation problems has also been explored.
💡 Special education changes: The district revamped the special education department to increase the number of self-contained classrooms for students.
- The shift means fewer schools will offer special education, forcing some students to transfer.
👋 New board member: Rev. Steve Bland Jr. was appointed to the seven-member school board in July to fill a vacancy left when former member Angelique Peterson-Mayberry was appointed to the Wayne County Commission.
- Bland is also the senior pastor of Liberty Temple Baptist Church.
📱 Classroom distractions: Cellphones at schools are a hot-button issue across the state.
- Lawmakers rejected a statewide ban last month.
- Detroit public schools already have their own rules that prohibit use during class, unless a teacher allows use for instructional purposes.
😬 Federal relations: Funding uncertainty looms as officials contend with the Trump administration's critical approach to public education.
- "This current president and this administration is not supportive of our children," superintendent Nikolai Vitti said in March.
🎒 State budget questions: There are also questions surrounding state education funding because of a prolonged budget impasse — lawmakers missed their July 1 deadline.
- Funding for free school meals statewide runs out Sept. 30 without a budget deal or spending plan for the meals, Chalkbeat reports.