Школьный округ Дирборн: история, вызовы и изменения

School district in Michigan

In 1999 a group of Arab parents voted down a 1999 bond because they wanted one with more substantial funds. Instead of that $50 million bond, the parents approved of a $150 million around 2001. Extensive bi lingual programs in the district (where some schools have 90% Arabic origin student populations) have caused concern with the Wayne County Regional Education Service Agency issuing a report suggesting banning Arabic except where absolutely necessary. State budget cuts in 2011 were expected to heavily impact special programs including bi lingual education. In 2012 the U. S. Department of Justice asked the district to provide more information in immigrant languages to parents of students who had difficulty with English. Since the early 1980s Dearborn district schools have vegetarian meals as alternative to non halal meals. As of 2010 some schools used discretionary funds to offer halal meals, but most schools did not offer halal meals since they cannot get affordable prices from distributors. In 2013 a group of students and parents suggested that the high schools ought to have later starting times. In the fall of 2021, the district moved start times later for all students. The district runs a three tier busing system meaning a single bus may pick up and deliver high school, middle school and then elementary school students. In 2022 there were political controversies in the district regarding LGBTQ materials in schools. In 2022, there were protests that advocated for removing certain books and protests that advocated against districts removing such books. The district chose to discontinue holding seven titles. Much of the impetus against LGBTQ books was driven by conservative Muslim advocates, who were backed by conservative Christian advocates.

After decades of slow growth, Dearborn Public Schools has seen its enrollment stabilize in circa 2021. Enrollment was just over 20,000 students for the 2020–21 school year. About 46 percent of the district's students are considered English Language Learners. The community includes a large Arab American population, and Arabic is the most common second language in the district after English. From 2000 to 2010, during a time of growth in the Arab American community, the enrollment of DPS increased from 17,000 to 18,500. This occurred even though the number of households in Dearborn declined during the same period. In a thirty year period ending sometime prior to 2010 the district and Detroit Public Schools both developed policies to accommodate Arab and Muslim students in collaboration with administrators, parents, teachers, and students. Policies adopted by the districts included observances of Muslim holidays, Arabic language programs, policies concerning prayer, and rules regarding modesty of girls and women in physical education and sports. as of 2016 almost 66% of the district's students were Arab American. as of 2016 the poorest 25% of the district's students performed far above national averages in academic performance. About 70 percent of the families in the district are low income as of 2021. Dearborn Public Schools offers free school lunch and breakfast to most of its kindergarten through 12th grade students through the Community Eligibility Program of the National School Lunch Program. All school meals in the district are halal and nut free, with a vegetarian option available at each meal.

Five schools in the district received National Blue Ribbon Schools Awards from the U. S. Department of Education from 2017 through 2021, including Iris Becker Elementary in 2017, STEM Middle School in 2018, Charles A. Lindbergh Elementary in 2019, and Haigh Elementary and Henry Ford Early College in 2021.

Dearborn Public Schools offers four early college programs through a partnership with Henry Ford College. All four programs allow students to attend school for five years to complete both a high school diploma and some college, potentially earning an associate degree, trade certification or college credits to apply toward a bachelor's degree. Three of the programs Henry Ford Early College, Henry Ford Early College Advanced Manufacturing and Henry Ford Early College School of Education focus on specific career areas and are housed on the Henry Ford College campus. The fourth program, Henry Ford Collegiate Academy, allows students to attend their home high school full time for two years before starting to transition to college classes.