Michigan
Michigan, Detroit schools set graduation rate records
Michigan’s four-year graduation rate climbed to a new high of 84% for the class of 2025, the Michigan Department of Education announced Friday, an increase of 1.2 percentage points from the previous year.
The state’s five-year graduation rate for the class of 2024 improved by nearly 1 percentage point, to 85.8%, and the four-year dropout rate also improved to 7.1%, down from 7.7% in the previous year.
The graduation rate is the highest since the state adopted the federal formula for calculating the rate in 2008, according to MDE. The rates are distributed by the Michigan Center for Educational Performance and Information and are available to filter by school district on the MI School Data website.
State Superintendent Glenn Maleyko said the historic highs are due to increased efforts by “students, educators, families and communities as well as state leaders.”
“It takes all of us collaborating to put Students First and support them so they can graduate, be successful in postsecondary endeavors, and realize their dreams,” Maleyko said in a statement. “There’s more work to do because we want all students to graduate, but we know we can make further progress while also improving other student outcomes such as literacy.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also said in a statement she knows “how much hard work students and parents do to walk across the stage and receive a high school diploma.”
“Since I took office, we’ve made record investments in education, from helping schools buy the latest textbooks and technology to delivering free breakfast and lunch to all 1.4 million public school students,” Whitmer said. “Let’s keep working together to boost Michigan’s graduation rate and help every young person ‘make it’ in Michigan.”
EdTrust-Midwest State Director Brian Love said in a statement the new record high was “promising.”
“It shows that the collaboration of our state leaders and educators is working for our state’s students,” Love said. “At the same time, our state leaders have more work to do to ensure all students are college and career ready, particularly students with the greatest needs.”
Several school districts also saw record graduation rates.
Troy School District had the highest graduation rate of the 20 largest districts, at 98.3%.
Sixteen of the 20 largest districts in the state saw increases, averaging 1.4 percentage points of growth among them.
Detroit Public Schools Community District had the largest increase of the 20 districts, raising its graduation rate 5.1 percentage points to 83.2%, just a hair below the state average and marking a new district high.
The growth continues an upward trend for DPSCD, with the 2025 class marking the fourth consecutive year of improvement since the pandemic low of 64.5 percent in 2020-21, a recovery of 18.7 percentage points. The gap between DPSCD’s graduation rate and the state average was 16 points, and is now less than 1 point.
“Our teachers, counselors, principals, and staff knew we could do better and put in the work every day to get us here,” Superintendent Nikolai Vitti, noting the increases “did not happen by accident.”
“We were intentional about building a stronger system of support around our high school students,” Vitti said. “This included advanced data tracking systems, more course recovery, additional counselors and mental health intervention for neighborhood high schools. We still haven’t completely arrived where students need us to be as a district but we are certainly making historic strides! I am proud of our students, their families, and our staff.”
Vitti recently focused his State of the Schools address on the growth in DPSCD, and urged other districts across Michigan to come see what Detroit is doing to spur that growth.
Grand Rapids Public Schools also released a statement about its new record rate of 83.2%, an increase of a little less than a point from last year but nearly 18 points higher than it was 10 years ago.
“The continued increase in our graduation rate shows what is possible when an entire district rallies around scholar success,” Superintendent Leadriane Roby said. “Our educators are focused on ensuring every scholar has the support they need to graduate and prepare for what’s next. The Class of 2025 is proof that our collective efforts aremaking a real difference.”
MDE attributed much of the growth to “rigorous secondary school programs in Michigan such as Career and Technical Education,” including dual enrollment, where students can earn college credit while still in high school.
The state also saw growth within 14 of its 17 subgroups of students, including homeless students (4.6 percentage points), military-connected students (3.8 percentage points), African American students (2.6 percentage points), economically disadvantaged students (1.5 percentage points), and Hispanic/Latino students (1 percentage point).
Love, the EdTrust director, said some of those rates still remain low, showing the continued need for investment. African American students graduated in four years at a rate of 75.7%. Students who are economically disadvantaged had a 74.6% four-year graduation rate.
Love said EdTrust-Midwest is advocating for additional funding that is weighted toward districts with higher populations of students with the most need.
“It’s important for state leaders to continue to invest in our schools, particularly those that serve high concentrations of students from low-income backgrounds, English learners and students with disabilities; develop research-backed policies to address our state’s early reading crisis; and support strategies to close opportunity gaps that leave too many students unprepared for college and career,” Love said. “Our students can’t wait.”
jpignolet@detroitnews.com
ROTHBURY, Mich. — Michigan State Police (MSP) detectives shared some more information Friday about their investigation of the infant death at this year’s Electric Forest music festival in Rothbury.
Troopers recently received a tip about a Muskegon woman who was said to have information about the incident, but after interviewing her and completing other necessary investigative steps, MSP said they ruled her out as a suspect.
A restroom vending company employee at the festival found the body of a neonate, a newborn infant who is four weeks old or younger, in a portable restroom in the festival camping area on June 28, according to troopers.
The festival is hosted at the Double JJ Resort, which was locked down to anyone entering the following day as police surrounded the scene.
Troopers are asking for tips from the public at michigan.gov/michtip.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Harmful algal blooms have been reported on two notable lakes in West Michigan: Gun Lake and Muskegon Lake.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy says cyanobacteria was reported on Muskegon Lake July 3, but no tests have confirmed it.
The Barry-Eaton District Health Department says a harmful algal bloom was confirmed Thursday on Gun Lake. The lake remains open, but the BEDHD is encouraging visitors to use caution and avoid water that has “visible algae.”
Visitors are encouraged to avoid any contact with water that appears bright green, blue-green, brown or red or has “floating mats of scum.”
Pets should also avoid the water. If they come into contact with the algae, pets should be rinsed off as soon as possible with clean, fresh water.
Exposure to algae can cause a rash or irritation to the skin, eyes, nose and throat. It can also cause stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fever and trouble breathing.
“If you become sick, contact your healthcare provider. Seek medical care right away if you have trouble breathing, severe vomiting, or other serious symptoms,” the BEDHD said in a statement. “If your pet was exposed, rinse them well with clean water and do not let them lick their fur until they have been washed. Contact your veterinarian right away if your pet has vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, trouble walking, excessive drooling, shaking, or seizures.”
Harmful algal blooms are powered by the sudden growth of cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae. Cyanobacteria occur naturally in lakes, rivers and ponds but is often boosted by a sudden excess of nutrients, often caused by fertilizer runoff from farms or failed septic systems.
They can last for several days and sometimes even months. The water will look “scummy” or like “spilled paint or pea soup.” They are typically found in the summer and fall — usually peaking in August or September and dying off by the end of October.
You can report a suspected harmful algal bloom to EGLE at AlgaeBloom@Michigan.gov or 1.800.662.9278.
Sterling Stamping Plant is the largest in the world
Ed Daniels, vice president of North America injection and stamping operations, discusses the process of producing metal parts for Stellantis models.
Warren — Hulking metal presses line one wall of Stellantis NV’s cavernous stamping plant here, punching out the raw shapes of Jeep doors, Dodge hoods and Ram tailgates in rapid succession.
Nearby, swinging yellow robots continue the tightly choreographed work, gluing and pressing and welding smaller components to the sheet metal that eventually will start to resemble the shape of a truck or SUV.
Seven miles north, in Sterling Heights, Stellantis operates an even larger stamping plant — the biggest in the world, at 2.7 million square feet — that does much of the same work, churning out various shapes of steel and aluminum 24 hours a day.
Together, these lesser-known links in the manufacturing supply chain support all of Stellantis’ big North American assembly plants — from next-door Warren Truck Assembly Plant, where the Jeep Grand Wagoneer SUV is built, to facilities in Windsor and Mexico that make minivans and pickups.
Inside Stellantis’ Huge Detroit Stamping Plants
The Detroit News recently got a rare look inside the automaker’s Sterling and Warren stamping plants, which are key to the company’s turnaround plan.
The Metro Detroit stamping plants, the automaker’s only two such facilities in the United States, have at times struggled in recent years, facing major job cuts and worker morale issues amid slowing sales and shifting production plans. But under Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, the facilities are expected to cram in more workload — and add staff — as Stellantis begins a new five-year strategic turnaround plan, which includes a heavy focus on its most profitable North American market.
The carmaker’s goal: grow sales by more than a third to 1.9 million annually by 2030 as it launches 23 vehicles, including 11 all-new models. The company also is directing billions of dollars of investment into its U.S. manufacturing footprint due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“Stamping has never really been viewed as the sexy side of automotive manufacturing, we’re relatively invisible,” said Ed Daniels Jr., vice president of North America injection and stamping operations. “Because when you look at the commercials and advertisements, it’s always a beautiful Ram rolling off the assembly line or climbing the side of a mountain.
“But we’re the inception of that vehicle,” he said. “This is where raw materials are turned into commodities and parts.”
The Detroit News recently got a rare look inside the two plants that combined employ about 3,000 people. The automaker wanted to show off a newly-installed blanking press at Warren Stamping and other machinery like a high-speed transfer press and a robot that spots flaws in the metal.
Hiring expected
The blanking press unspools long coils of metal and chops them up into pieces that can then be shaped into roofs, fenders and floor pans. Stellantis shipped the massive machine to Warren from its idled Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois last year.
After upgrades to the machine, executives said it’s able to produce as many as 120,000 metal blanks per week. It will save Stellantis money since the plant will no longer need to pay a supplier to break down the coils before the metal arrives there.
The blanker addition is a big deal for the plant and signals that the company wants to bring more work in-house and invest in the facility over the coming years, said Romaine McKinney III, president of United Auto Workers Local 869, which represents workers at the factory.
The plant has already brought back all of its laid-off UAW workers, and McKinney said he anticipates more hiring to get underway if sales grow and new Stellantis vehicles come to market.
In another corner of the Warren facility, one of the fastest press lines in the world — known internally as the Hellcat — pushes as many as 15 pieces of metal through per minute. Dies that weigh up to 50 tons apiece squish the material into the shapes of doors and hoods before robotic arms snatch them out and place them on conveyor belts. Midway through a shift, workers can reconfigure the machine to make a different component, a process that takes just five minutes.
Robots check for quality
Curtis Booth, who manages Warren Stamping, said manual processes inside the plant have become increasingly automated, and safer, over the last couple decades, even as the automaker’s two stamping factories still utilize some presses that were installed in the 1960s.
The latest high-tech addition is the Automated Body Inspection System, or ABIS. It’s a camera system mounted on a robot that automatically checks the quality of components and flags anything in need of repair.
Auto plants of all kinds are increasingly turning to these types of camera systems, infused with artificial intelligence, to catch flaws in sheet metal and other components before they are shipped. Booth said worker visual inspections are still used. But in some cases the human eye has too much subjectivity, and the ABIS removes the guesswork.
Greg Bauer, who manages Sterling Stamping, said his plant has added staff over the past year, and expects to continue hiring as more work is assigned to the facility. There is no space at the plant to add more presses, but officials have figured out how to increase efficiency — quickly toggling back and forth between making doors for a Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Charger on on a single machine, for example.
“We want to bring high-volume parts into the plant, and we want to maximize the capacity of the equipment,” Daniels said.
lramseth@detroitnews.com
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