Four Detroit neighborhood schools are shutting their doors at the end of this school year, a move district leaders say is meant to plug holes in a strained budget but that has blindsided many families. Ann Arbor Trail Magnet School, J.E. Clark Preparatory Academy, the Catherine C. Blackwell Institute, and Greenfield Union Elementary-Middle School will all close, and roughly 330 students will need new placements for next year.
District Confirms Closures
As first reported by Chalkbeat Detroit, Detroit Public Schools Community District is speeding up a previously announced phase-out plan for the four campuses. Families received letters in February laying out the change. Superintendent Nikolai Vitti told Chalkbeat the closures had been discussed for years, but the decision to accelerate the timeline is new. He added that staff at the affected schools will be reassigned to other positions within the district rather than laid off.
Why The District Accelerated The Timeline
District officials point to mounting budget pressures and the looming threat…..