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The Detroit district school board voted Tuesday night to adopt a $1.1 billion budget for the 2026-27 school year that prioritizes attendance efforts, mentorship for students, and school security.
The Detroit Public Schools Community District budget also raises pay for all employees, adds nine more school counselors, hires about 12 more assistant principals, and gives teachers funding for classroom supplies so that families don’t have to bear the cost.
The budget includes $13.9 million for efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism, which is defined as a student missing 10% or more of days in a school year. The money will pay for attendance agents, financial incentives for middle and high school students who have perfect attendance, wraparound services, and yellow bus service pilots for students at four high schools.
Chronic absenteeism has long been an issue in Detroit. DPSCD has outpaced the rest of the state in reducing chronic absenteeism since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Still, 60.9% of DPSCD students were chronically absent in 2024-25.
The budget keeps DPSCD’s current programming and staffing without any major changes and is based on predicted 3% enrollment growth, or about 1,478 more students. The district estimates a $12.9 million increase in state funding and will spend the final $31.4 million allocation of the literacy lawsuit settlement funds.
However, Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said last month that after the next school year, the district will face financial uncertainty.
After the $94.4 million settlement runs out, the district will have to make tough decisions about which programs and staff it can afford to keep.
DPSCD will also begin relying on a voter-approved property tax to cover operating costs, meaning if rates fall, the district will receive less money. There is also ambiguity about the fate of federal dollars and whether future state funding will continue to include the same weighted funding levels for students from impoverished families.
In the long term, DPSCD will need to consider phasing out more small and underutilized schools to reduce costs, Vitti said.
The district sped up the closures of four small schools at the end of this school year to save funds. Thurgood Marshall Elementary-Middle will close earlier than expected for the same reason at the end of 2026-27.
Once specific state grants end, the district also needs to prepare to cut some mental health supports, nurses, or security guards hired this school year, administrators said.
Earlier this year, DPSCD received a surplus of $10.3 million in one-time state mental health and school safety funds.
Some of those dollars went toward hiring more school resource officers, guards, and piloting upgraded security checkpoints after two incidents involving students bringing weapons to classrooms.
Michigan districts are required to adopt annual budgets by June 30, though state allocations may change. The district will make a budget amendment in the late fall to reflect any changes in state funding.
Hannah Dellinger covers Detroit schools for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.
