A scrapper removes metal from vacant school (Photo: Steve Neavling)
A scrapper removes metal from vacant school (Photo: Steve Neavling)
Here's another example of the incompetence of the state when it comes to running the Detroit Public Schools.
Steve Neavling of Motor City Muckraker reports:
The city of Detroit took possession last year of 58 vacant, blighted schools that were left to languish as they were gutted by scrappers under the control of the state-run public education system. Since then, Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration has done what the state often had failed to do since taking over Detroit Public Schools in 2009 – secure the potentially valuable buildings and demolish the ones beyond repair.
Since last year, the city has secured 44 of the 58 vacant schools, leading to dozens of jobs for young Detroiters, who earned $9.50 an hour boarding up buildings while learning about the construction trade through the Opportunity Detroit Youth & Trades Board-Up Program. The city also has razed five schools, and four more demolitions are under contract or out for bid, said Brian Farkas, director of special projects for the Detroit Building Authority.
Last week, only five buildings remained unsecured. The city began boarding up one of those – Sampson Elementary on the west side – on Wednesday, one day after Motor City Muckraker alerted the mayor’s office that the building was open to trespass and flooding because of a broken water pipe.
In the past, DPS ignored us when we notified state officials of dangerous, vacant buildings that were diminishing nearby property values.
