Fitzgerald Public Schools

Fitzgerald Public Schools is a district in Warren, Michigan, serving about 2,259 students across six schools, including three elementary schools (Westview, Mound Park, and Schofield), one middle school (PD Chatterton), and two high schools (Fitzgerald Senior High and Fitzgerald Virtual Academy). The district overall ranks in the bottom quintile of Michigan districts, and every traditional brick-and-mortar school struggles with chronic absenteeism rates above 44%—nearly double the state average—while serving a predominantly economically disadvantaged population with free/reduced lunch rates between 68% and 83%.

The standout success story is Fitzgerald Senior High School, which boasts a 93.7% graduation rate and a mere 2.3% dropout rate—both far better than district and state averages. This is a stark contrast to Fitzgerald Virtual Academy, where only 55.3% of students graduate and 25.5% drop out, despite having the district’s lowest chronic absenteeism (12.9%) and most favorable student-teacher ratio (5.1:1). At the elementary level, Schofield Elementary School, a kindergarten-only school, faces the toughest challenges with a 65.6% chronic absenteeism rate and the highest per-student spending at $22,142, while Westview Elementary School shows promising year-over-year gains in 3rd grade ELA and math (both up about 12.6 points).

Academic proficiency trails state averages by 15–25 points across most subjects, with math showing a particularly troubling decline as students advance: 3rd grade proficiency is near the state average (37.7%), but it drops to 7.1% by 5th grade at Mound Park Elementary School, 14% by 8th grade at PD Chatterton Middle School, and just 5.9% on the 11th grade SAT. However, there are bright spots: PD Chatterton improved 8th grade PSAT math by 5.6 points, and Fitzgerald Senior High’s science scores rose 2.3 points. For parents, the key takeaway is that while the district faces systemic hurdles—especially absenteeism and poverty—Fitzgerald Senior High demonstrates that strong graduation outcomes are achievable, and several schools are making measurable progress that suggests potential for future improvement.