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DPSCD to shift GoLightly career‑tech programs to neighborhood high schools; East‑side access and transportation draw questions
Summary
Board discussion and public comment focused on the facility master plan (FMP) changes that will phase out GoLightly Career & Technical programs and reassign programs to Pershing, Denby, Southeastern annex and Davis Aerospace; parents, CTE advocates and board members raised concerns about East‑side access and transportation.
Detroit — Detroit Public Schools Community District leaders told the board on May 13 that programs at Golightly Career & Technical Center will be relocated under the district’s facility master plan to neighborhood high schools and to specialized sites, a change that drew public comment and board questions about access for East‑side students.
Superintendent (Dr. Vidi) explained the FMP plan put programs that had been at GoLightly into neighborhood high schools to increase direct access: culinary programming will move to Pershing; design programming to Denby; avionics to Davis Aerospace (at the city airport); and advanced manufacturing, including welding, will be consolidated at Southeastern’s annex. “The design program that I go lightly will be at Denby, and all the manufacturing related programs will be at Southeastern, with this new annex,” Dr. Vidi said in response to board questions.
Public commenters and board members urged the district to preserve East‑side access. A parent and CareerTech advocate told the board she was “disappointed to know that there will not be a career technical center on the East Side of Detroit” and raised transportation barriers, saying “students from the East Side to the West Side” face difficulties getting to programs.
Board members asked for clearer plans and for marketing and enrollment improvements. One board member said students could attend Randolph or BrightHawk but noted historical disincentives and current seat limits; Dr. Vidi said the district removed the fiscal disincentive years ago and provides AM/PM transportation for Randolph and BrightHawk. The superintendent also acknowledged that program enrollment at GoLightly had been low historically, and said the district expects enrollment to increase when programs are embedded in neighborhood schools.
Dr. Vidi said the district will examine whether an East‑side equivalent to Randolph should be developed in the future, and he described the high‑school redesign as another path to expand access through partnerships with Wayne County Community College.
Board members requested concrete program‑by‑site charts and stronger marketing materials to explain which CTE programs will be at which campuses for the coming school year. The superintendent said staff will prepare that material for the academic committee and meet with CTE principals to identify enrollment barriers.
No formal vote was taken; board members directed staff to return with specific plans and outreach strategies.
