Bobb releases list of 32 Detroit schools to be closed; Carstens is spared

School's success, community support saved it from chopping block, Bobb says

By JEFF SEIDELFREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Posted: 1:59 p.m. June 7, 2010

Teachers and students at Carstens Elementary School cheered for joy and applauded this afternoon when Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager for the Detroit Public Schools, announced that the 95-year-old building on the city’s east side has been taken off the list of the district’s school closures.
“I’m so happy. It’s a miracle,” said teacher Barbara Haug, who is known to students at Carstens as Miss H.
Standing inside of Carstens, Bobb unveiled a final list of 32 schools and one support building that will close this year as part of a plan to turnaround the district’s finances. Nine schools will be shuttered in 2011, and four in 2012 as part of the plan.
Among the schools to close are Osborn and Cooley high schools and Bunche, Holcomb, Dixon and Langston Hughes schools.
• PDF: Detroit school closings list with narrative descriptions.
• PDF: Detroit school closings: Projected costs and savings
Back in March, Carstens was included on a list of 41 schools that Bobb had proposed to close. But after he toured the district and held meetings to talk to teachers and parents about each school, Carstens stood out as one that should remain open because it has been so successful. Nine out of 10 third- and fourth-graders at Carstens have passed the state MEAP exam; 98% come from low-income families.
Carstens is more than a school, students and teachers say. It also is an informal social services provider, where children can get dental work, vision care and health care at a clinic in the basement, and their parents can get legal advice from the Legal Aid and Defender Association.
“I feel wonderful. I’m learning everything here, said Sh’tyra Hardy, 9, a third-grader at the school.
Contact JEFF SEIDEL: 313-223-4558 or jseidel@freepress.com