Detroit public schools combat chronic absenteeism with clean clothes
(CBS DETROIT) - Detroit Public Schools Community District is combating chronic absenteeism by helping students clean their clothes.
It's a new program that calls for the installation of washers and dryers in more than 100 schools across the district by the end of 2024.
"Wow, washing machines — never heard of that at a school," said Melania Willis, a parent and public safety officer at Pershing High School.
Willis has heard of students who don't have access to running water or a washer and dryer at home ditching class because they're too embarrassed to come to school.
"Some kids get picked at [and] made fun of because they smell," she said. "This was a good opportunity to bring a washer to the school."
The unit at Pershing is a washer-dryer combo, and Willis says she plans to use it instead of paying at a laundromat.
Pershing principal Bryant Tipton says this will also benefit the school's sports teams.
"Our coaches used to have to take the uniforms home to their own washers and dryers to wash them," Tipton said. "No sports team or athletic facility should have to do that; they should be able to do that at the school [and] now we can."
Installing a washer and dryer in schools is something that has the potential to move the needle in attendance and athleticism one load at a time, and it was all made possible through a partnership with the DPSCD Foundation, the district's philanthropic arm, and GE Appliances.
"[Our families] understand that we're not just giving them anything," said Kerrie Mitchell, president and CEO of the DPSCD Foundation. "It's something solution-based that's really going to meet their needs." A few years ago, through Whilpool and its Care Counts Laundry Program, a washer and dryer was installed at Dr. Letha Powell's school in Pontiac. Powell says although it may seem like a small feat, it's made a world of a difference for her students and their families, with 95 students having perfect attendance last year, a record for the school.
"[If] you feel good about yourself when you come in here and you're nice and clean and you're here to work," Powell said.