"Detroit Public Schools officials announced today they will begin tearing down the most dangerous vacant school buildings beginning in January."
Robert Bobb, the district's emergency financial manager, made the announcement outside the old Sherrard School, which closed in 2007.
The graffiti-marked school is an example of the kind of vacant schools Bobb said are being targeted. Glass and other debris litter the grounds of the school. And stolen windows make it an easy target for thieves -- and neighborhood children -- to enter.
"They have been a real blight," Bobb said of the buildings.
The district will use $3.1 million in money left over from the 1994 bond and nearly $30 million from the bond proposal voters approved in November.
In all, 14 buildings will be demolished, though more may be added to the list, officials said. Among the 14 schools: the old Cass Tech High, Finney High, Chadsey High and Munger Middle.