Copyright CBS News
The Detroit Public Schools Community District is celebrating the start of another major construction project. In two years, there will be a brand-new state-of-the-art Cody High School on the city's west side. On Tuesday, cheerleaders greeted guests for the groundbreaking of the new high school. "When you go buy a home, you know, when you decide to go rent an apartment complex and you have children, you're thinking about, well, what does a school look like?" said DPSCD Superintendent Nikolai Vitti. Renderings revealed new classrooms, a gym, a STEM lab and a courtyard. The new high school is expected to open in fall 2027. "Everything they need to be great to be successful is right here in their community," Cody High School principal Jason Solomon, Principal. Sophomore Dakota Johnson will be a senior and part of the first class to graduate from the building. "It's great to be in a newer, nicer environment. I'm like, looking so forward to that," Johnson said. The Cody High School project costs nearly $90 million. The project is part of the district's 20-year Facility Master Plan, which is largely funded thanks to federal funds that were provided by the Biden administration during the pandemic. The total investment is about $700 million. The school is one of four construction projects that started in recent years. The district held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Southeastern High School Annex after it was completed, and work at Malcolm X Academy and Pershing High School is ongoing. "In order to really impact the greater community, it starts with the school. You want to make sure that there are solid schools," said Cody High School alum Kenyetta Campbell. Vitti said that in three to four years, all the schools in the district will have modern HVAC systems. "I think Detroiters will see the investment, see we did it in time, see that we did it within budget, and that it was a quality, and hopefully, that can move to having a broader conversation with Detroiters about a bond," he said.
