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The Detroit school board is reconsidering plans to demolish four recently closed schools after facing community criticism.
The Detroit Public Schools Community District originally planned to begin demolitions in June 2027. In the months preceding the school closures at the end of the 2025-26 school year, community members expressed their concerns. Multiple public speakers at recent board meetings asked the district to find alternative solutions, such as selling or leasing the buildings. Some criticized the school system for holding onto land that could remain vacant for extended periods instead of allowing others to repurpose it sooner.
“I tend to personally agree with that,” board president LaTrice McClendon said at a Wednesday committee meeting, agreeing with concerns about the district retaining the land.
Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said the board in 2022 approved razing buildings and retaining the land at schools identified for phaseout in the facilities plan.
The board did not vote or take any action on the schools at the meeting. However, four members signaled their desire for the district to seek new proposals from outside entities, such as businesses or nonprofits.
The four schools – Ann Arbor Trail Magnet School, J.E. Clark Preparatory Academy, Catherine C. Blackwell Institute, and Greenfield Union Elementary-Middle School – closed at the end of the 2025-26 school year because of low enrollment and high costs.
Demolition of the buildings will cost nearly $5 million, according to a district report.
Board member Ida Simmons-Short said at the meeting she would rather see the district put the money into classroom resources.
“If we can sell the buildings and make more money, then that’s better for us because we have more financial resources for our students,” she added.
Thurgood Marshall Elementary-Middle School is slated to be next on the district’s list of small schools to close.
After Marshall’s closure, the district will monitor 17 more school buildings where operating costs are high, largely because of low enrollment. The district is exploring ways to boost enrollment at the schools, and there are currently no plans to close them.
Hannah Dellinger covers Detroit schools for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.
