Detroit Votes for a New School Board Majority
Parents in the Detroit Public Schools Community District will see who runs spending, curriculum, and the superintendent decision.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Administration
Live Poll
Do you think your local schools are getting better or worse?
Detroit voters will elect a new majority to the Detroit Public Schools Community District school board on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, with polls closing at 8 p.m. Five open at-large seats are on the ballot, and some candidates are calling for the removal of Superintendent Nikolai Vitti.
Why it matters
The board votes on district spending, curriculum, and policy, and it can vote to hire or fire the superintendent, subject to approval by the Detroit Financial Review Commission. Parents and community members are pressing district leaders for more urgency on academic achievement, building conditions, and transparency.
Five at-large seats are open: four carry full four-year terms and one carries a two-year partial term. The ballot lists 34 candidates, including 31 names for the full-term seats, and Natalie Bien-Aime, Henrietta Ivey, and Darious Morris have said they are no longer running.
The players
Detroit Public Schools Community District
The Detroit school district, created 10 years ago, is governed by a seven-member elected school board that sets district spending, curriculum, and policy.
Detroit Financial Review Commission
The state-appointed oversight body whose approval is required before the Detroit school board can terminate the superintendent.
Nikolai Vitti
The current superintendent of Detroit Public Schools, whom some candidates in this election are calling to remove.
The details
Voters choose board members in at-large races, meaning candidates compete districtwide rather than for a single geographic zone. The new board will set spending and policy and will decide whether to hire or fire the superintendent, a decision that requires approval from the Detroit Financial Review Commission. The district was created 10 years ago, and the new majority will inherit ongoing questions about small schools with high costs, the end of a literacy lawsuit settlement, and chronic absenteeism.
Timeline
Tuesday, November 3, 2026: Detroit school board voting day, with polls closing at 8 p.m.
The Home Front
The election places the Detroit school board's governance of its district within a city where families weigh school quality heavily in housing decisions. Board choices on building conditions and small-school costs bear directly on that calculation for families already in the district.
If your household is in the Detroit Public Schools Community District, check your polling location and the full candidate list before Tuesday's 8 p.m. close. Families planning around school choices should note the pending questions on building conditions and small-school costs that the new board will weigh.
The takeaway
The new board's makeup will shape decisions on the superintendent, school budgets, and building conditions for years. Before Tuesday, confirm your polling place and review the candidates running for the seats that matter to your children's schools.
What happens next
Polls close Tuesday, November 3, 2026 at 8 p.m., and the newly elected board will then take office to begin making spending, curriculum, and superintendent decisions.
Further reading
For more on how school leadership decisions are made, browse our Administration coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Chalkbeat.
Live Poll
Do you think your local schools are getting better or worse?
