After two years as emergency manager of Detroit Public Schools, Roy Roberts has officially left the position. Yesterday, Governor Rick Snyder named current Detroit Chief Financial Officer Jack Martin to replace him.
Martin has also served as emergency manager of Highland Park Schools, and as CFO of the U.S. Department of Education.
Governor Snyder says he expects the transition between Roberts and Martin to be seamless.
“I don’t think we could find a better person to come in and fill Roy’s shoes, to continue that legacy, to say, ‘How do we take that plan, how do we continue to make it real?’” Snyder commented.
Roberts says DPS still has a long way to go, but conditions are noticeably better than when he started.
“Every action that I’ve taken over the last two years has been about the students and fixing the system so that every child in the city of Detroit can receive the quality education that they so deserve,” Roberts said.
Martin will inherit a budget deficit of more than $70 million. Roberts says the district has reduced that deficit by about $250 million since 2010.
Martin says he doesn’t plan to make any major changes.
"I plan to continue implementing the academic and fiscal initiatives that were launched by Roy and his team," said Martin. "I will aggressively pursue the support and assistance of our school board, our unions, the state superintendent, the higher education community, the foundation community, and the citizens of Detroit and the state of Michigan."
