The $1.1 billion budget for Detroit Public Schools Community District's 2026-27 school year is on track for a board vote next month. Board members got a preview this week.
The proposal covers pay increases and one-time bonuses for all employees. The district serves 49,134 students. A 1% enrollment increase is projected, consistent with statewide trends. The budget was built against Governor Gretchen Whitmer's proposal and parallel versions from the Michigan House and Senate. "Everything is funded as it was last year," Superintendent Nikolai Vitti told the board. "There's not going to be any major changes." Bridge Detroit reported the briefing.
The warning is about the years after. The $94 million the district received from a literacy lawsuit settlement ends after the 2026-27 fiscal year. Programs built on that money have no guaranteed replacement. The district also faces a scheduled return to a traditional funding model relying on operating millage revenue. If collection rates drop, the budget follows.
Bus service expands. A yellow school bus pilot that launched this year at Henry Ford High School and East English Village Preparatory Academy at Finney will extend to Pershing High School and Cody High School in 2026-27. The program targets chronic absenteeism.
Seven additional high school counselors are included. The hires bring the ratio to one counselor per 250 students, the standard set by the American School Counselor Association. During the 2024-25 school year, Michigan schools averaged one counselor per 565 students.
The attendance incentive program, which paid high school students $100 per week for each week of perfect attendance between January and March, extends to middle schoolers at $50 per week.
Teacher supplies get a floor. The budget increases materials funding and sets a minimum standard across all schools. Vitti said the board has made clear "that families should not be required to give extra supplies to individual teachers or classrooms."
Board President LaTrice McClendon asked about matching the city of Detroit's $21.45 per hour minimum wage for district employees. Vitti said an analysis had been completed but the number "exceeded what we thought we could afford in the next two years."
McClendon pushed for an enrollment growth target of 3 to 4 percent. "We need to think bigger," she said, "because we have kids who want to come back." Vitti held at 1 percent.
Board member Bessie Harris called for more visibility for neighborhood schools. "We see the Cass and the Renaissance and the Kings and the Southeastern and the Palmer Park," she said, "but we don't see the Thirkells, we don't see the Spains."
The board votes next month.
