Bobb to Close 45 schools

[Kevgoblue]

Very surprised this didn't show up on the board yesterday.
http://detnews.com/article/20100316/...etroit-schools

The plan is to close 45 more schools. Since his arrival, he has closed now what amounts to half the schools in the district. Apparently he wants to explore the possiblility of asking the voters for another bond issue to fund an additional $700M in facility updates.
So what do you think? Is this the superintendent acting responsibly to address Detroit's educational crisis? Getting the number of schools in line with the number of students and providing them with state of the art facilities? Or is this indicative of the destruction of the district. And a grab of public money to update the existing buildings before he hands them over to charters?

[Hermod]

I wonder.

When I was in elementary school in 1950, we had 1.8 plus million people in Detroit. How many people worked in the DPS headquarters at the time? Now the population is less than half of the 1950 population. Do we have half the people working in DPS headquarters now? That is where I would begin cutting.

[R8RBOB]

I returned to Detroit back in 2004 and I got a contract job working for Compuware when they had the DPS contract. I had to do inventory on the computers located in the schools so this allowed me to visit a number of the schools throughout the city. As I went from east to west, north to south I saw the same things in each of these schools. Students doing whatever they pleased, teachers and administrators fed up, school buildings in horrible conditions, parents showing no concern for the kids well-being. I came across kids cussing like sailors around the adults like they were kids and me, well they thought I was one of them[[ok, I look young to be 39)because they had no problem sassing me out. I saw the future and I was terrified.

As for closing the schools, Robert Bobb is not an educator, he is a administrator and he is thinking like an administrator. The facts: the tax base has regressed. The money and the population no longer exist in Detroit at this time. To save the school system it must reduce in size so tough choices have to be made. I appreciate Bobb's effort to steer this out of control ship though I ask why didn't he included Emerson Middle School as one of the buildings to close. That place is a dump.


http://r8rbob.wordpress.com

[bartock]

I just wish there was a little better explanation as to the $1.2 billion [[total) needed in additional funds for a district that's expected to be 55,000 students in 2015. I get that new facilities or upgrades may be needed, but this seems extreme. Will they be building Cass Tech III?

[Hypestyles]

I hope that the next governor is willing to back Bobb in his efforts, but if it is a Republican, we can expect more political firestorms.. Bing should be more willing to push for mayoral control..

[Kevgoblue]

I just wish there was a little better explanation as to the $1.2 billion [[total) needed in additional funds for a district that's expected to be 55,000 students in 2015. I get that new facilities or upgrades may be needed, but this seems extreme. Will they be building Cass Tech III?

Exactly. Much more needs to be said about this. If the article is correct and there will be roughly 140 schools left in the district, that $1.2 Billion should go pretty far. About $8.5 million per school. You could damn near tear em all down and build new schools for that.

[Locke09]

I just wish there was a little better explanation as to the $1.2 billion [[total) needed in additional funds for a district that's expected to be 55,000 students in 2015. I get that new facilities or upgrades may be needed, but this seems extreme. Will they be building Cass Tech III?

He has changed his mind again. Apparently he will not ask for the $750 million in November after all. He will wait until residents warm up to the idea. Oh, and its only $500 million more now.

The original $500 million bond came with an explanation/plan. But, after the bond has been approved by voters, that plan has changed as well. That's the problem with bond proposals. It seems that there is no guarantee the money will be spent the way they claim it will be spent when they are asking you to approve the bond. Perhaps if people knew that 45 more schools were going to close, including some of the schools that were targeted to be rebuilt with the bond money, they might not have approved the bond. At the very least, wait until you finalize your plans and then ask us for money to fund it.

I am uncomfortable with these moving targets. First, Mr. Bobb is brought here to address the critical financial problems. So critical that they require an emergency financial manager. But one year later, he has added more than 100 million dollars to the deficit. Then, he wants his mission changed from emergency financial manager to superintendent [[in charge of academics as well). This school year he expressed his determination to stem the exodus of students from DPS and attract others back. Now he is planning for 30,000 more to leave in the next five years.

Mr. Bobb needs to finalize some measurable goals and targets by which his performance can be evaluated. And Skillman, although I do love that foundation, needs to stop financing part of his salary since he seems to be working so closely with them to plan DPS' future. How can he be objective about anything they propose when they are providing part of his salary?

[eastsidechris]

My school is on the list of closures. I have 11 years invested in the district and I have no idea if I'll have a job next year. And I use the term ‘invested’ because I DO give a damn about my students and my position as an educator. I’ve chosen--sometimes to the chagrin of my spouse, my family and my friends--to continue working for DPS.

While the plans of the district sound admirable, I believe they are completely unrealistic. For example, will Bobb finally live up to his word and get textbooks for the students? Case in point: I teach two sections of English 5 with 17 kids in one class, and 28 in the other. While these kids don't show up for class every day--not unexpected, when I heard that the average DPS high school student misses 40+ days of classes each year--I have seen them all, and the second class presents a problem for me, since I only have 20 textbooks. If I have more than 20 kids show up, I have to send one around the building to borrow books for the rest of the class. You can also imagine that any homework I give them cannot involve the use of a textbook. We submitted text requests last year, and while some of them were met, some were obviously ignored.

And getting back to the attendance issue, one simple solution would be the addition of an automated attendance calling system that so many of the suburban schools [[and even some DPS schools) have. I would simply get bogged down in paperwork if, in addition to taking attendance on both the district's scan sheets and in my own record book, I had to also fill out forms every time a kid misses class. That's what the district wants me to do, but if I have to choose between using my limited free time grading papers or filling out attendance forms on kids I haven't seen in three weeks, I'm going to grade my papers and focus my energy on the kids who are trying to get an education. Also, I'm expected to make phone calls to the parents of the truants--usually a waste of time, considering the phone numbers are disconnected in probably 65% of the contact numbers I'm given. Oh, and I don't have a phone in my room--I either use the one phone that is in the teacher's lounge or use up my own cell phone minutes calling parents.

And then, finally, the district's plan appears to have no plan for parent involvement/accountability. Until the parents care [[and that's not to say that most do not, but FAR too many of them have no clue what is going on with their child’s school life), why should the students? Until the parents buy in 100% to the lofty goals set by Bob Bobb, I don't care how many "university campuses" DPS is going to set up--they will just be set up to fail.

I warn the public to be very wary of what is going on behind the scenes in the district. Bobb has the media eating out of the palm of one hand, yet the other hand is open for corporate contributions toward his salary--the same corporations that probably want
no-bid contracts with the district and to get a foot in the door to become one of the 70 schools the city plans to open in the future [[and you can bet those will be non-DPS charter schools). Check the books in 5-10 years and see who is getting rich from the grandiose plans of Bobb and friends, and you’ll probably find that his friends are making a pretty penny in the education “industry.”

Throw me in the boat with Locke09 in thinking that Bobb’s appeal to Detroiters for approval of the $500 million bond was not quite as transparent as he’d like us to think. How much of that money is now going to go toward fixing up DPS buildings which will then be reopened as charter schools—privately run facilities that were made possible by Detroit’s tax payers? If they want to open a charter school, let them finance the deals themselves.

And I leave you with this nugget: Bobb wants us to place faith in the plan he and his buddies have developed as part of Excellent Schools Detroit. If these people truly have the best interests of the children of Detroit at heart, why do they promote the academic achievements of Carstens Elementary school on their web site and pamphlets one week, but the next, the school district announces they are closing the building? Be very careful about trusting Bob Bobb and his cronies, who hide behind the guise of raising educational standards in Detroit, yet they will all become rich off of the once-proud district while struggling to make significant improvements in the education of Detroit's children.

[Danny]

YAY! Clap, Clap, Clap, Good for Bobb, Detroit Public Schools is a very big school district with fewer teachers and students. It's too big to run so downsizing the poor district is a sacrifice that has to be made to save money. I have been waiting for this monent for a long time.

Thank you Bobb.

[Det_ard]

Very surprised this didn't show up on the board yesterday.
http://detnews.com/article/20100316/...etroit-schools

The plan is to close 45 more schools. Since his arrival, he has closed now what amounts to half the schools in the district. Apparently he wants to explore the possiblility of asking the voters for another bond issue to fund an additional $700M in facility updates.
So what do you think? Is this the superintendent acting responsibly to address Detroit's educational crisis? Getting the number of schools in line with the number of students and providing them with state of the art facilities? Or is this indicative of the destruction of the district. And a grab of public money to update the existing buildings before he hands them over to charters?

^^^ I wonder how many of the everyday posters on here have kids in the DPS system? I know there's some teachers [[no administrators, at least none that have admitted to such) but can I get a "present" from the parents?

[Hermod]

^^^ I wonder how many of the everyday posters on here have kids in the DPS system? I know there's some teachers [[no administrators, at least none that have admitted to such) but can I get a "present" from the parents?

Nope, I was a student in DPS 1944-1954 when they were the best school system in the state and one of the best in the nation.

[bartock]

^^^ I wonder how many of the everyday posters on here have kids in the DPS system? I know there's some teachers [[no administrators, at least none that have admitted to such) but can I get a "present" from the parents?

Lottery aside, a good chunk of every taxpayer dollar goes to education, and it is a rightful interest of anyone who pays taxes in this state, or for that matter cares about this state.

[Rocko]

Here's the list of buildings to be closed at the end of this school year.

I know Cooley H.S. has some really cool architecture, so it'll be a real shame to see it close. I'm not that familiar with most of the DPS buildings....any of you forumers know which of these other buildings are architecturally significant/worth a photo or two before they close their doors for good? TIA

1. Bagley [[PK-6)

2. Bethune [[K-8)

3. Bethune Early Learning Center

4. Boykin Continuing Education Center

5. Bunche [[PK-5)

6. Burt [[PK-5)

7. Burton [[PK-8)

8. Campbell [[PK -5)

9. Carstens [[K-5)

10. Coffey [[K-8)

11. Communication & Media Arts High School

12. Cooley High School

13. Cooley North Wing Special Education

14. Crary [[PK-5)

15. Crosman/McKinney building

16. Detroit City Alternative High School

17. Detroit Day School for the Deaf

18. Dixon [[K-8)

19. Dossin [[PK-6)

20. Drew [[K-8)

21. Earhart [[6-8)

22. Catherine Ferguson Academy for Young Women

23. Glazer [[PK-5)

24. Hally Magnet Middle

25. Hanstein [[PK-5)

26. Harding

27. Harding Annex [[Shurly Building)

28. Holcomb [[PK-5)

29. Langston Hughes [[PK-8)

30. Jamieson [[PK-6)

31. Kettering High School

32. Kettering West Wing

33. MacDowell [[PK-6)

34. Malcolm X [[PK-8)

35. Mason [[PK-5)

36. McColl [[PK-5)

37. McFarlane [[PK-5)

38. McKenny [[PK-6)

39. Osborn High School

40. Robeson Early Learning Center

41. Sherrill [[PK-8)

42. Thirkell [[PK-5)

43. Trombly Alternative High School

44. Westside Alternative High School

45. Longfellow [[administrative building)

[iheartthed]

Will there be any public high schools left in Detroit after this besides Cass Tech, Renaissance, MLK and DSA?

[Elaine Hamby]

Nope, I was a student in DPS 1944-1954 when they were the best school system in the state and one of the best in the nation.

Yep, you are quite right, Hermod. At Ives and Guyton [[and I attended a couple of other elementary schools as well), I received quality education, including violin lessons from the inimitable Mrs. Cubby. I had outstanding teachers: Bill Weitschat, Ewarest Wisniewski, a Miss VisMara in 3rd grade at Ives. I had an outstanding science teacher, Mr. Hermann. A wonderful, wonderful principal, Ethel Torbett. Art, auditorium [[for speech and drama), ballet lessons [[free, after school activity in one of the school's gyms), Girl Scout meetings [[also in a classroom). I was a hall and bathroom monitor, and wore an armband to show my 'authority." My dad was difficult and my principal was often called upon to protect me. You can see that I studied my English lessons well. I won spelling bees. I loved being selected to clean the blackboard at the end of the day. Mr. Weitschat not only read chapter books to us so that we would have some "down" time, he told us stories and gave us information that was enlightening and brought the textbook stuff to life. When I kept asking to be moved closer and closer to the front of Mr. Wisniewski's 7th grade class, he asked me what was up. I could no longer see well. He instructed me to tell my parents, and I got glasses. Mrs. Tisdale in 8th grade was there for us when President Kennedy was assassinated. She calmed us, told us what had happened, made us understand the implications. I am very very sad for Detroit's schools, once some of the best you'd find anywhere.

[313WX]

Will there be any public high schools left in Detroit after this besides Cass Tech, Renaissance, MLK and DSA?

At first glance of the list, they'll be Pershing, Denby/Finney, Mumford, Central, Southeastern, Southwestern, Northwestern and Cody.

[iheartthed]

At first glance of the list, they'll be Pershing, Denby/Finney, Mumford, Central, Southeastern, Southwestern, Northwestern and Cody.

An article that I read this morning said Northwestern will close.

[Rocko]

This article, from the Free Press, expands on many of the changes, closings, renovations, and transfers of schools, buildings, programs, and activities. It's long so I'm not going to copy the whole text here.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...te=fullarticle

From the text however:

Pershing will close

Northwestern will close, but the building will be reused: [[Northwestern High will close, but the building will house the Detroit High School Academy for Accelerated Options. The school will be for high school students who are behind in credits.)

Finney [[currently closed as of last year) will be the new site of Crockett H.S., but I'm unsure if it will be in a totally remodeled building or a new structure all together: [["New • A new Crockett High School will be built on the old Finney High campus. Finney closed last year.)

Southwestern is now slated to close in 2011.

What I want to know is what this text means for the MacKenzie H.S. Building:

New
• A $32 million pre-K-8 school will be built on the Mackenzie campus.

Phase II
New
• A small high school will be built on the Mackenzie site, turning it into a pre-K-14 campus.

In my opinion, MacKenzie is one of the prettiest and most architecturally significant schools in the district. Though the High School closed just a year or two ago, it's Pewabic Tile certainly still stands out! Hopefully, this school to be built on the MacKenzie campus/site will include at least a portion of the old building, preserving the beautiful architecture.

[Hermod]

Yep, you are quite right, Hermod. At Ives and Guyton [[and I attended a couple of other elementary schools as well), I received quality education, including violin lessons from the inimitable Mrs. Cubby. I had outstanding teachers: Bill Weitschat, Ewarest Wisniewski, a Miss VisMara in 3rd grade at Ives. I had an outstanding science teacher, Mr. Hermann. A wonderful, wonderful principal, Ethel Torbett. Art, auditorium [[for speech and drama), ballet lessons [[free, after school activity in one of the school's gyms), Girl Scout meetings [[also in a classroom). I was a hall and bathroom monitor, and wore an armband to show my 'authority." My dad was difficult and my principal was often called upon to protect me. You can see that I studied my English lessons well. I won spelling bees. I loved being selected to clean the blackboard at the end of the day. Mr. Weitschat not only read chapter books to us so that we would have some "down" time, he told us stories and gave us information that was enlightening and brought the textbook stuff to life. When I kept asking to be moved closer and closer to the front of Mr. Wisniewski's 7th grade class, he asked me what was up. I could no longer see well. He instructed me to tell my parents, and I got glasses. Mrs. Tisdale in 8th grade was there for us when President Kennedy was assassinated. She calmed us, told us what had happened, made us understand the implications. I am very very sad for Detroit's schools, once some of the best you'd find anywhere.

Elaine: I attended Anthony Wayne Elementary [[non-PC school named after a guy that kicked the crap out of the injuns at Fallen Timbers). The duty girls [[hall monitors) were the assistant principal's gestapo whose primary mission in life seemed to be to keep boys from wearing hats in the school [[big no-no, your hat had to be in your hand when you breached the plane of the door). I was in the safety patrol in 5th and 6th grades and guarded the crossing of Lakepointe at the Courville intersection. .7th and 8th grades, I went to Andrew Jackson Intermediate which looked like and was run like a high school [[gym, swimming pool, shops, home economics, etc.)

Is Wayne still open? I am pretty sure that Jackson was closed years ago.

[Hermod]

I hope that the next governor is willing to back Bobb in his efforts, but if it is a Republican, we can expect more political firestorms.. Bing should be more willing to push for mayoral control..

Bing and Bobb seem like the types that can work with a Republican governor instead of just lobbing bombs at Lansing as Coleman Young did.

[Det_ard]

Lottery aside, a good chunk of every taxpayer dollar goes to education, and it is a rightful interest of anyone who pays taxes in this state, or for that matter cares about this state.

Agreed, I just find it curious that I can't recall ever reading anything on this board from the parent of a current DPS student.

[trstar]

Did Bobb ever balance the budget?

Isn't that his job.

[Patrick]

So how many of these buildings will sit and rot away? Will they do a half-assed job at boarding them up. Might as well just knock em down rather than let the scrappers pick their bones. Cooley's design is so amazing and cannot be replicated today. Sad, but what is even more sad is the general state of the DPS.

[DetroitTeacher]

I could not have said it better than eastsidechris! Cooley is on the Historic Buildings list. The "new building" team was at Cooley yesterday. Look for it to be a charter school next year, opening a "renovated" building with 8.5 million in bond money.

[M CD M]

Well, it's good that they are trying to adjust things.
But when they close these 45 buildings, It will be a matter of time before they turn into Wilbur wright school or worse into Jane cooper[[now is an empty lot with a pile of tires and part of a plastic playground slide).
I've been to nearly half of the schools in the DPS district, and the Shuttering they do is half ass at best [[for fallout shelter location documentation for my website)

Both of my parents went to Osborn. My mother was surprised to hear of it's closing.