Detroit schools describe $200 high‑school attendance incentive; officials say gift cards go to students, not parents

Detroit Public Schools Community District officials described a temporary attendance incentive for high‑school students that pays recipients with Visa gift cards worth $200 per 10‑school‑day cycle, and said the payments go to students rather than parents.

Superintendent Dr. Beatty told the Academic Committee the program began the first day students returned from winter break, operates in four 10‑day cycles through late March and targets grades 9–12, where chronic absenteeism is highest. He said funding comes from interest earned on money held for the district’s facility master plan and therefore is not subject to ordinary federal or state restrictions.

District leaders said the incentive requires students to be present every class period during a cycle; tardiness or missed periods can make a student ineligible. Excused absences tied to district‑sponsored events and districtwide closures (for example, weather days) do not count against eligibility. The superintendent acknowledged teacher attendance records have been an implementation challenge, and described a process that allows students and families to request a review if a student believes a day was incorrectly recorded as absent.

Board members and members of the public pressed for more detail on distribution and oversight. The superintendent said gift cards are electronic Visa cards coded to students and do not require parental bank information or social‑security numbers. He said cards cannot be cashed out like some peer‑to‑peer payment apps and that most cards were already being accessed and spent; district staff reported more than 60 percent of cards had been used within about 10 days of issuance. An outside vendor operates the hotline parents can call to report problems with card activation.

Parents and board members raised concerns about late notice to families, senior dues and fees that students might want to apply the money toward, and students who miss a single cycle because of unavoidable appointments. The superintendent said the district will: increase PA announcements and robocalls to students and parents; designate an attendance lead (often an assistant principal) at each school to handle corrections and overrides; and communicate a deadline for activating cards so unclaimed funds can be returned to the funding pool.

The district said final program evaluation and decisions about continuation beyond the current funding will depend on midyear and year‑end data and the availability of interest and other revenue streams. Officials said using facility interest is a one‑time source that may be harder to repeat next year and that philanthropic funding could be considered to sustain the incentive if it proves effective.