Joy Middle School, Detroit MI

A month after Detroit Public Schools officials announced that most of the district's vacant schools had been carefully secured, Joy Middle School on the city's east side sat last week with unlocked doors, rubble-filled hallways trashed by vandals, a room full of new computers left behind and a stash of students' personal records scattered on the floor.
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The destruction in a school vacant for just 10 months stands as a stunning example of what can go wrong in the handful of schools yet to be secured by the district. Of the 33 schools closed last year, Detroit Public Schools did not immediately board up and empty out all the buildings, saying a contractor had failed to do its job.

The delay in securing Joy has left parents wondering about the security of their children's records, residents questioning the safety of their neighborhood and taxpayers potentially on the hook for costly repairs if the district tries to lease out the vacant building.

News Article: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...40302/1003/news

Photos by Regina H. Boone of the Detroit Free Press