DPSCD officials say incentives lifted high‑school attendance but chronic absenteeism remains high

Detroit — Detroit Public Schools Community District officials told the school board on May 13 that district enrollment and average daily attendance are up from last year, and that a high‑school attendance incentive produced measurable improvements — but that chronic absenteeism remains elevated.

Superintendent (identified in the meeting as Dr. Vidi) said district enrollment was “about a thousand students higher than we were at the end of last year” and that districtwide average daily attendance was about 84 percent. He told the board that chronic absenteeism was tracking at about 59 percent districtwide, a seven percentage‑point drop from the prior year, and that high‑school‑only data showed a nine percentage‑point drop in chronic absenteeism following the district’s perfect‑attendance incentive program.

The district framed the incentive as a targeted tool that raised attendance among students already near the chronically absent threshold and among students with otherwise good attendance. “If you isolate just high school … we saw a 9 percentage point drop in chronic absenteeism,” Dr. Vidi said during board Q&A. He added the program had less impact on students who are deeply chronically absent in neighborhood schools.

Board members pressed for context and next steps. Board member Sherry Gaye Danyogo asked for the date range for the 59 percent figure; Dr. Vidi replied the figure covers the school year to date through “late last week.” Board member Angelique Peterson‑Mayberry pressed for action on younger students and earlier career exposure, while others asked about supports for students living in unstable housing.

On supports, the superintendent said the district would follow up with its homeless services office and noted there is a budget recommendation to add full‑time staff in that department. He also said the district plans a targeted transportation pilot: “I am gonna recommend, we fund a pilot at Henry Ford High School for yellow bus transportation,” he said, describing it as an intervention to address unreliable transit as a barrier to regular attendance.

Board members and the superintendent discussed fraud and logistics tied to the incentive. The superintendent said later cycles of the program saw increased fraud involving transferred online gift cards; affected students who reported fraud were reissued cards. He recommended future iterations might use a physical card distribution model and stronger dashboards for students and principals to track eligibility and status.

The board directed the superintendent to report follow‑up details at upcoming committee meetings and to return with specifics about the Henry Ford pilot and staffing proposals tied to McKinney‑Vento and homeless services.

The board adopted the superintendent’s report by voice vote during the meeting; the record shows the motion to adopt was moved by Dr. Iris Taylor and supported by Monique Bryant.

Looking ahead, Dr. Vidi and board members said they expect further analysis of which students benefit most from incentives and to design targeted interventions for students who are persistently absent despite the incentive.