DPS prepares to convert some buildings to charter schools

Next week the Detroit Public School system will begin accepting bids from charter school operators interested in taking over operations at 45 city schools.

The Detroit Free Press reports that DPS emergency financial manager Robert Bobb said he would consider his Renaissance 2012 plan successful if five or six schools are converted by fall.

DPS is facing a deficit of $327 million and has lost more than half of its students in the past decade.

DPS identified 59 buildings as part of the three-part plan to reduce the district’s budget in response to the deficit and declining enrollment. Forty-five schools are being proposed to become charter schools; 18 of those will close if no charter company takes them and 27 will remain open — but will be revamped — if no companies are found to run them. Another 14 school buildings were identified to close, half by this summer and the rest in the 2011-12 school year.
Detroit students and parents are expected to know their schools’ fates by June.

Michigan Association of Public School Academies president Dan Quisenberry told the Free Press that charter company interest in Detroit schools is moderated by questions about the future of the district, that level of support for the plan after Bobb leaves in June, and the amount of autonomy operators will have.