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A new majority will be elected to the Detroit school board Tuesday, in a pivotal election that may change the direction of the district for years to come.
Detroiters will vote to fill five open at-large seats on the Detroit Public Schools Community District’s seven-member board, including four seats with full four-year terms and one with a two-year partial term. The election comes as parents and community members push district leaders for more urgency in improving academic achievement, building conditions, and transparency.
MORE: Interactive: Pick your Detroit school board candidates
The new board will be tasked with governing Michigan’s largest district 10 years after its creation.
The board will decide the fate of small schools with high costs, may face difficult budget decisions as the district’s literacy lawsuit settlement runs out, and will have to find ways to continue reducing chronic absenteeism.
Many of the 34 candidates listed on the ballot want sweeping changes to the district’s current strategies, with some calling for the removal of Superintendent Nikolai Vitti.
The board has the power to vote on district spending, curriculum, and policy. In DPSCD, the board can vote to hire or fire the superintendent, but the Detroit Financial Review Commission must approve terminations.
Thirty-one names are on the ballot for the four full-term seats. Three of them — Natalie Bien-Aime, Henrietta Ivey, and Darious Morris — have said they are no longer running.
Three candidates — Ijazz Jackson, Aliya Moore, and Shawn Vaughn — are running for the two-year seat.
You can read what many of the candidates had to say about critical district issues in this voter guide.
We also have guides comparing where the candidates stand on:
- Addressing chronic absenteeism
- Closing small schools
- Whether parents should be held accountable for student absences
- What DPSCD should do when its literacy lawsuit funding ends
- Whether Detroit students are better off since the creation of DPSCD
Read more of our DPSCD board election coverage here:
- This November’s Detroit school board election may drastically change the district’s direction. Here’s how.
- Some Detroit school board candidates spent campaign contributions on clothing, travel, and meals
- 1 Detroit school board candidate raised nearly 80% of campaign money, finance statements show
- 4 Detroit school board candidates have felony convictions, analysis finds
- 5 Detroit school board candidates run as a slate backed by ‘militant’ ‘anti-fascist’ activism group
Statewide races on Tuesday’s ballot will also affect education for Detroit students, including the governor’s race and the battle for two seats on the State Board of Education.
Polls close at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Hannah Dellinger covers Detroit schools for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.