Detroit city, school leaders announce efforts ahead of school year
Detroit students are heading back to school in just over a week, and city and school leaders say they're working to remove some of the barriers that keep kids out of the classroom.
"Our goal is very simple today: every child in school on time and ready to learn on day one," said Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield.
For most Detroit students, the first day of school is August 24, and this year the city is expanding its efforts to ensure transportation doesn't keep them home.
Ride to Rise, which gives Detroit students free Detroit Department of Transportation rides year-round, is now permanent, thanks to $1 million in state funding. Sheffield says the program is rolling along, with student DDOT ridership already doubling this year.
"This will ensure that all Detroit students have access to free transportation year-round. This is not just to get to and from school, but this is also to tutoring, to after-school programs, recreation centers, libraries, jobs, and other opportunities throughout the city," said Sheffield.
But city leaders say getting students a ride is only part of the equation.
"We also have heard from students, families, and educators loud and clear that it's one thing to provide free transportation; it's another to provide free and safe transportation," said Chanel Hampton, senior director of the city of Detroit's Youth and Education.
To help, the city is adding Ride to Rise ambassadors by placing between 50 and 100 city employees each school day as a visible presence on key DDOT routes, at transit centers and near school bus stops.
A new rideshare pilot is launching this fall, targeting students at four schools with high absenteeism and significant transportation barriers.
"When our students miss 18 or fewer days, which means they're not chronically absent, they're three to four times more likely to be at and above grade level in literacy and math, science and social studies, and college ready on the SAT," said Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of Detroit Public Schools Community District.
Once students get to school, DPSCD says they'll have more of what they need, with the district investing an additional $4.5 million in school supplies, including kits for every student from pre-K through 12th grade.