29 Detroit Public Schools to close

[DetroitTeacher]

I think being taken off the closure list would mean that Dossin is off the table for charters.

[firstandten]

I think being taken off the closure list would mean that Dossin is off the table for charters.

according to the Detroit News article

Robert Bobb, emergency manager of the district, contacted the school's principal on Wednesday to say Dossin, a kindergarten through seventh grade building, will still be offered to charter operators for a takeover but would not be closed in the event no charter is awarded

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110428/...#ixzz1Kse9WvTB

[DetroitTeacher]

Well, that's just idiotic!

[Zacha341]

This needed to happen. The kids would have been forced to walk a very long distance, over the 96 freeway overpass, along the service drive far out of distance. And YES, I too walked a long, long way to get to my elemtery school [[you know the 'I walked a mile in 2 feet of snow' argument) in the 70's but traffic was not as congested as it is now and crime was less.

Small but not less significant victory!:

From the Detroit News:

April 28. 2011 12:12PM
DPS takes Dossin Elementary off closure list

Jennifer Chambers / / The Detroit News

Detroit— Dossin Elementary School has been taken off the closure list at Detroit Public Schools.

Robert Bobb, emergency manager of the district, contacted the school's principal on Wednesday to say Dossin, a kindergarten through seventh grade building, will still be offered to charter operators for a takeover but would not be closed in the event no charter is awarded.

Steve Wasko, DPS spokesman, said Bobb re-examined the school's enrollment, the community support it received when it was to be closed and the difficult conditions students would have faced crossing over I-96 to get to another school.

Dossin has 429 students and room for 489, according to district figures. The school also appeared on a closure list last year but was allowed to stay open.

Staffers from Dossin posted a YouTube video this month asking Bobb not to close their school, which focuses on technology and 21st century learning.

DPS, which faces a $327 million budget deficit, is moving ahead with plans to close seven other schools and offer 45 — including Dossin — to charter operators for takeovers. Of the 45 schools, 18 will be closed if no charter operator comes forward.

jchambers@detnews.com

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110428/...#ixzz1Kq1u4l2e

[maxx]

Det. Teacher:

I remember in the '80s, DPS was criticized for only using the whole word approach to reading. One of the TV channels had a volunteer reading program to counter illiteracy in the Detroit area. What is used today? What do you teach?

[DetroitTeacher]

I teach English. We aren't really supposed to teach grammar, per se. I'm not sure what reading strategies they use in the lower grades and with 150 kids, I don't have time to teach remedial reading. At the high school level, we don't really teach reading in isolation.

[Rocko]

This is great news, three more specialized schools have been taken off the list! I'm especially excited to see Neinas staying open; not only is it in an historic building, but it's in a neighborhood that is not only stable, but growing. A very smart move on the part of Bobb and his team.

May 12. 2011 12:42PM
DPS takes 3 schools off closure list

Jennifer Chambers / / The Detroit News

Detroit — Three Detroit Public Schools slated for closure will remain open for the 2011-12 school year after district officials took a closer look at each building and its programs.

Detroit Day School for the Deaf and two special education schools — Moses Field and Neinas Elementary — have been taken off a proposed school closure list after DPS officials visited the schools and talked to staffers about the programs and buildings.

The district plans to close six other schools and is asking charter operators to take over as many as 45 schools. DPS officials hope to right-size the district, where enrollment has fallen by nearly 100,000 the last decade.

DPS spokesman Steve Wasko said several factors played into each school staying open. At Neinas — a school slated to close after DPS constructed a new building — officials decided to keep the building open after learning that a high percentage of Neinas students walk to school and that the neighborhood's population is growing.

Moses Field, which serves students ages 3 to 13 with cognitive impairments, will stay open until DPS can locate another building to accommodate the program.

Day School for the Deaf will stay open, Wasko said, to "ensure current level of services."

That school, which serves hearing impaired students in pre-kindergarten through ninth grade, is the only school for deaf children in Wayne County and the region, said parent Danielle Clark, whose 11-year-old daughter attends the school.

Clark said the entire building is equipped for deaf students, from alarms to classes for parents in American Sign Language.

"I drive 40 miles one way to take her to school. This is the environment she needs. Deafness is not an illness — it's a culture," Clark said.

MacDowell Elementary School, which was to close if no charter school operators took over the building, will stay open even if it doesn't get chartered. Davison Elementary School will not be offered to charter operators for consideration next year.

The recommendations were made by Robert Bobb, the district's outgoing emergency manager. They will be forwarded to Bobb's incoming successor, Roy Roberts, who will be emergency manager when final decisions are made.

jchambers@detnews.com

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110512/...#ixzz1MCK5tZie

[swiburn]

quote=casscorridor;18926]you are glad? why are you glad?

detroit doesn't have too many schools, detroit has too little money and resources

Detroit has too little money? Yesterday's paper said that if Detroit collected all the property taxes that it was owed, the budget would be balanced. Let's start by doing a line item on the money inflow and outflow. Between incompetency and theft, Detroit needs some basic finance help.

[Rocko]

From The Detroit News:

May 27. 2011 1:00AM
4 DPS elementary schools close in June

Students will be moved to other facilities in the fall

Jennifer Chambers/ The Detroit News

Detroit — Four Detroit Public Schools will close next month as part of a consolidation plan to shutter under-populated buildings and slash operating expenses as the district struggles with a $327 million budget deficit.

Carstens, Hutchinson, Van Zile and Hutchins — all elementary schools — will be closed and students will be moved to other DPS facilities, Emergency Manager Roy Roberts announced Thursday. All of the schools had previously been announced as candidates to be closed.

"There continues to be overcapacity for the number of students that we serve despite the closings that have occurred," Roberts said in a statement, "and while the moves we are announcing today bring DPS more in line with the number of classrooms needed, we must quickly get to the point of determining the number of schools needed to meet enrollment projections for the next five years and create a plan to continue to downsize excess facilities."

The district would not say how much money it expects to save through the four closures, which affect 3,646 students. In addition, 7,285 students are in five DPS buildings to be closed after being replaced with new schools paid for by a $500 million construction bond.

The district said each school will have a transition plan with information about transportation, curriculum, facilities and parental involvement.

In some cases, entire school programs will move to larger or better-equipped facilities or to neighborhoods with more stable population patterns, DPS officials said.

Carstens will be moved to the Remus Building, which will be renamed Carstens. Hutchinson will move to Howe Elementary and be renamed Hutchinson. Van Zile will move into Farwell Middle School and Hutchins will move to Durfee Elementary.

Built in 1916 to accommodate 744 students, Hutchinson was eyed for the chopping block by DPS because it enrolled only 420 students, leaving empty classrooms and many open seats.

Principal Stan Johnson will deliver the news today that his students will be going to Howe Elementary in the fall.

"Hutchinson has been the landmark for that particular neighborhood," he said.
"Three to four generations of families have gone to that school. It's going to be a sad day when it closes. But when one door closes, a new opportunity opens up."

Schools recommended for closure that will remain open for the fall include Beard ELC, Carleton, Day School for the Deaf, Detroit City High School, Dossin, Ludington, MacDowell, Neinas, Rutherford and Trix.

Moses Field will stay open but will eventually move once a suitable east-side location is found.

Upper grades from Paul Robeson/Malcolm X, currently housed at Thurgood Marshall School following a fire last month, will move to larger facilities at Hally School. The magnet program at Hally will be maintained.

Schools and charter providers selected for DPS charter authorization for the 2011-12 school year will be announced next week.

jchambers@detnews.com
[[313) 222-2269

[DetroitTeacher]

Breithaupt Career Tech will be staying open! I'm so glad. My kids have written letters about this [[we sent them to Bobb). Many won't have anything but a technical job and the Voc-Tech helps them get a jump start on things. YAY! Now for CFA...hopefully that one will get a stay of execution.

[Orthophonic]

Breithaupt Career Tech will be staying open! ...

Open for lunch this Friday, 11/18 [[see article)

http://www.freep.com/article/2011111...xt|FRONTPAGE|s

[Zacha341]

Golightly CTC still open too. Crockett was converted to the Ben Carson Center that teaches to the medical industry.

Breithaupt Career Tech will be staying open! I'm so glad. My kids have written letters about this [[we sent them to Bobb). Many won't have anything but a technical job and the Voc-Tech helps them get a jump start on things. YAY! Now for CFA...hopefully that one will get a stay of execution.

[Danny]

Dossin Elementary does not need to be close in the well kept northwest Detroit ghettohood. Detroi Public Schools needs to focus on the schools that had lower enrollment and close the ones that are hard to repair.