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Flint Center proposes to renovate DTM campus building; board divided over $1 acquisition
Summary
The Flint Center for Educational Excellence proposed acquiring and renovating a vacant resource center on the DTM campus to expand after‑school and family programming; trustees praised the potential benefits but others warned that transferring district property for $1 raises stewardship concerns and asked for binding protections in any MOU.
Dr. Janelle Jamieson, representing the Flint Center for Educational Excellence, asked the Flint Board of Education to allow the center to acquire and renovate a currently vacant 5,000‑square‑foot family resource facility on the DTM campus and expand it to about 7,500 square feet for after‑school programming, family engagement and community education. "This facility has been vacant for a little bit more than 10 years," Jamieson said, and the renovation and addition would create more space for programs that the Flint Center already runs in partnership with the district.
Jamieson laid out the funding and program structure the organization proposes: roughly $2.4 million to renovate the existing building, about $1.3 million to add a second floor, and nearly $500,000 in site work and playground/connectivity improvements. She said the work is supported by state and philanthropic funding streams and that the legislature included a grant that can be used to acquire and renovate a facility; she also described multiple MOUs that would govern programming and operations to ensure district students have priority access.
Board members focused on two core questions: who benefits and how the district retains program control. "Our agreements require us to give Flint Community School students the first right of refusal," Jamieson said, describing the Community Education MOU and the 21st Century funding agreement that name DTM as a site. Supporters on the board said restoring a long‑vacant building for student programs is a concrete way to expand services and put legislative money to use rather than leave a facility idle.
Opponents urged caution about transferring ownership. One trustee argued that "Flint Schools has to benefit" and described concern about giving away district property for a nominal fee. Questions centered on the terms of a purchase agreement, whether an acquisition price of $1 was appropriate, and how the district would ensure ongoing governance and program alignment if the Flint Center owned the site.
Administration said the state allocation in question amounted to roughly $3.5 million spread over five years for acquisition and renovation activities and that the grant language does not prescribe an acquisition price; Jamieson confirmed the Flint Center's budgeted renovation figures and said a final co‑design and MOU process would be used to define operations and protections. Several trustees asked that the MOU be presented to the board for review and that legal counsel and additional safeguards be included before any property conveyance.
Next steps: Jamieson asked the board for a formal sign‑off to proceed with preparing a purchase agreement and MOU; the board discussed scheduling a special meeting to consider the formal documents. The matter remains subject to the board’s review of the proposed MOU and any accompanying legal assurances.
