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The Detroit district’s state mental health and school safety grant funding has more than doubled after hundreds of other school systems rejected the money, Michigan Department of Education records show.
The district will receive an additional $10.3 million for the two-year grant period, on top of the $8 million the state originally allocated for Detroit schools.
The Detroit Public Schools Community District is one of 512 districts to share in $321 million for mental health and safety after agreeing to new controversial conditions for the money by the end of last year. In order to get the grant funding, district and school leaders had to consent to disclosing information that would otherwise be legally protected if a school shooting or other mass casualty event occurs. They also had to agree to allow a comprehensive state investigation of such incidents.
DPSCD’s board voted to agree to the waiver in November in order to get its original $8 million allocation for 2025-26. At the time, Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said the district “could not afford to walk away” from the funding, which it uses to contract mental health services at all schools and cover some security guard and officer salaries.
Some of the $10.3 million in additional funding Detroit received in February can cover expenses next school year, district administrators said.
The district did not respond to questions about how it will recommend spending the extra dollars. The board will vote to make the final decision on where the funding will be allocated. The board must approve a budget for next school year by June 30.
The state funding can be used by the district on mental health screening tools, firearm detection software, cameras, and mental health training for staff, among other purposes.
The state funding allocated by districts to pay the salaries of school resource officers and mental health support staff may carry over into 2026-27, according to state law.
School security has been top of mind for many Detroit parents this school year, following two incidents in which students brought weapons into classrooms.
After the incidents, DPSCD approved spending $1.7 million to hire 38 additional security guards. Another $490,000 was approved by the board to pay for a pilot of new metal detectors at seven schools.
The push to require school districts to sign waivers in exchange for the funding came after the 2021 Oxford High School shooting. Several districts’ challenge to the requirement is making its way through the courts.
Hannah Dellinger covers Detroit schools for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.
