Detroit Public Schools Expands Cash Incentives for Students With Perfect Attendance
Detroit Public Schools Community District is expanding its student attendance incentive program as the district works to address one of its biggest challenges: chronic absenteeism.
Under the district’s newly approved $1.1 billion budget for the 2026-27 school year, students in grades six through eight will have the opportunity to earn $50 for every week of perfect attendance. High school students will continue to qualify for $100 per week through the existing program.
The initiative comes as chronic absenteeism remains widespread across Detroit schools. During the 2024-25 school year, approximately 61% of DPSCD students were considered chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 10% of the school year.
District officials previously introduced the attendance incentive for high school students, using $100 Visa gift cards each week to reward students who maintained perfect attendance. The program is now expanding to middle school students in an effort to encourage better attendance earlier in their academic careers.
Transportation is also being incorporated into the district’s strategy to help students get to school consistently. DPSCD plans to expand yellow bus service to Pershing High School and Cody High School. A previous pilot program serving Henry Ford High School and East English Village Preparatory Academy was designed to determine whether improved transportation could increase attendance.
Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said the expansion is especially important for Cody High School because approximately 80% of its students live in the surrounding neighborhood. Pershing, meanwhile, has the highest chronic absenteeism rate among the district’s neighborhood high schools.
The district is also launching a $500,000 rideshare pilot program that will provide transportation for approximately 150 students at Pershing, Denby, Osborn and East English Village high schools. The program is scheduled to operate from Aug. 24 through mid-October.
In addition, a separate $1 million state grant will keep DDOT bus rides free for Detroit K-12 students.
The attendance incentives are part of a larger $1.1 billion budget that also includes employee raises, additional school counselors and assistant principals, classroom supply funding and enhanced security measures.
For DPSCD, the goal is straightforward: get more students through the school doors consistently. By combining financial incentives with expanded transportation options, district leaders are hoping to make attendance easier, more rewarding and more consistent for students across Detroit.
