Detroit school officials are seeking to extend a contract next year with local tutoring nonprofit Beyond Basics to provide continued help for district students far behind in reading skills.

At a school board finance committee meeting Friday, Detroit Public Schools Community District superintendent Nikolai Vitti introduced a contract extension for Beyond Basics for the 2023-24 school year. The Southfield-based tutoring nonprofit would receive $3.3 million to provide one-on-one or small group literacy instruction to students at eight district schools. 

In recent years, DPSCD has used philanthropic dollars, COVID relief funding, and money from a literacy lawsuit settlement to expand Beyond Basics’ tutoring across district high schools and elementary schools.