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As the Detroit school district moves forward with its plan of rebuilding and renovating buildings, two schools under construction could see a name change.
During an academic committee meeting Tuesday, three board members for Detroit Public Schools Community District — Vice Chair LaTrice McClendon, Monique Bryant and Steven Bland — discussed a proposal to explore the possibility of renaming the former Phoenix Elementary-Middle School and Paul Robeson Malcolm X Academy.
The full board would have to approve launching the name change process. That likely would happen when the board meets Nov. 11.
The schools are part of the district’s facility master plan, a $700 million project introduced in 2022 that includes rebuilding, reopening, or demolishing certain schools. The plan calls for rebuilding Paul Robeson Malcolm X and Phoenix, which closed in 2016, as well as Cody and Pershing high schools and Carstens Academy. Meanwhile, a handful of school buildings, including Ann Arbor Trail, Sampson Webber, and Clark, will be phased out.
The new buildings for Phoenix and Paul Robeson Malcolm X are scheduled to open in the fall of 2027, according to a district document. During engagement sessions for Phoenix, community members expressed interest in renaming the school, citing the need for a fresh start and identity. McClendon said there are no alternate names for the school yet.
Before Phoenix closed, the school was known as Phoenix Multicultural Academy, located in southwest Detroit. The school building, once named after former President Woodrow Wilson, held a library, science labs, and an auditorium in addition to floors of classrooms, reported the Detroit Free Press. The school was a part of Detroit Public Schools until 2012, joining Michigan’s short-lived Education Achievement Authority reform district until the school closed in 2016 due to low enrollment and low performance. The building was demolished in 2024.
Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said Paul Robeson Malcolm X Principal Jeffery Robinson talked to him and Deputy Superintendent of Operations Machion Jackson about flipping the school’s name to Malcolm X Paul Robeson Academy.
The community engagement for the name changes would cost $50,000, which would be taken out of the facility master plan funds.
“Apparently within the community, there’s a feeling that the school should be called Malcolm X first,” Vitti said during the meeting. “Based on the longevity of his (Robinson’s) service at that school, I believe that there is a sentiment to at least engage. That’s what this (vote) would do. It doesn’t change the name of the school. What it does is allow us to conduct surveys, conduct meetings, to gauge if there is an interest and if there is, what the name should be. Then we take that back to the board for an official renaming or this process.”
BridgeDetroit reached out to Robinson for comment, but he has not responded.
The last time DPSCD approved a school’s name change was in 2022 when the board voted to rename East English Village Preparatory Academy to East English Village Preparatory Academy at Finney. This was to honor the former Finney High School, which was located where EEV is now on Detroit’s east side.
That same night, the board also approved changing the name of the Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine to Crockett Midtown High School of Science and Medicine.
McClendon had concerns about the proposal for Phoenix and Paul Robeson Malcolm X, asking why the board would spend $50,000 on community engagement.
“Is there a cheaper or a least expensive way to figure out if this is what the community wants?” she said. “I think that’s not the best use of the district’s resources. We have all these other projects going up. Could we just do a simple survey and get it done?”
Jackson said that the majority of the $50,000 will go toward community engagement for Phoenix.
“There are fees that will be involved with the community engagement regarding Malcolm X, but those will be nominal,” she said.
Bryant then brought up the Catherine Blackwell Institute, which is set to close within the next five years. Blackwell’s niece Alberta Carter has addressed the board about renaming another school after the late Detroit educator, who was a pioneer in the field of African and African-American studies.
Vitti responded by saying that he would have to bring an agenda item to the academic and finance committees to initiate an engagement process for the Blackwell Institute based on the new feeder pattern associated with the school.
Additionally, Vitti said having an engagement process for Phoenix and Paul Robeson Malcom X will allow students, staff, and parents to have a say in what they want to see in a new name.
“This process doesn’t allow one person’s voice, five people’s voices to carry the main change in and of itself,” he said.
Micah Walker is a reporter for BridgeDetroit. She can be reached at mwalker@bridgedetroit.com.
