(Detroit News) Roy Roberts, the next emergency manager for Detroit Public Schools, vowed Wednesday to find top experts to help him tackle the troubled district's two biggest headaches — finances and academics.

The former General Motors vice president said he will find leaders in both fields, put them in place and let them do their jobs.

Named emergency manager Wednesday by Gov. Rick Snyder, Roberts said he will hire a superintendent to focus on curriculum to get students ready for college and a financial turnaround expert to lead DPS out of a $327 million deficit.

He begins work May 15 and will have full powers July 1.

"This community is tired of all the negativity and they are tired of all their kids failing. We can't just sit back and say woe's me," Roberts said, standing next to Snyder during a news conference in Midtown. "I'm going to need the best academic person and the best financial person, and I will offer to lead from the center."

Roberts, 72, of Bloomfield Hills, will succeed Robert Bobb, DPS emergency manager since March 2009. Bobb, who has had a tumultuous relationship with the Detroit Board of Education and the DPS community, leaves June 30, per his contract.

Snyder thanked Bobb for his service but said, "It's time for the next chapter to be made with Detroit Public Schools to continue to work.

"To do that work, I believe we've found the best," Snyder said. "Roy Roberts is one of our true success stories in Metro Detroit and the state of Michigan."

Roberts, who signed a one-year contract for $250,000, said: "There's no better assignment that the governor or anyone in this state can give me that will make a difference in the lives of young people in the Detroit school system."

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DPS is holding workshops to teach parents how to use their new take-home academic tool kits. The kits, which include games, books and practice sheets, will be used to provide enrichment for the students during the holiday break. The kits will be available at each of the district's eight parent resource centers.

Parent Resource Centers are located at:
-Central Collegiate Academy, 2425 Tuxedo Room 128
-Osborn High School, 11600 E 7 Mile Rd, Room 121
-Marcus Garvey Academy, 2301 Van Dyke, Room 405
-DPS Welcome Center, 3031 W. Grand Blvd.
-Priest, 7840 Wagner Room 112
-Cody High School, 18445 Cathedral, Room 112
-Detroit School of Arts West (DSA) Langston Hughes Campus, 19501 Berg, Room C11
-Phoenix Elementary, Room 213, 7735 Lane Street

To bolster membership in the new Detroit Public Schools Alumni Association, DPS is challenging every graduate to support their school by purchasing an association membership by Friday December 31, 2010. The school with the highest number of alumni signing up during the contest period will receive a special celebrity visit in the new year.

The DPS Alumni Association will provide enrichment for DPS students, while working with existing school alumni associations to benefit students. Regular membership costs $25 annually, and will include the I'm In keychain card, which will carry discounts to various retailers.

The group will work closely with the Detroit Public Schools Foundation, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to supporting Detroit students. Their mission is to raise, manage and steward funds and other resources to support value-added programs and activities for the benefit of the Detroit Public Schools and its students.

Alumni and supporters can sign up online at www.detroitk12.org/alumni or download a membership form that can be mailed with appropriate dues to:  DPS Office of Alumni Affairs, 7333 Second Avenue, Detroit MI 48202.

For more information about getting involved, call the DPS Office of Alumni Affairs at (313) 873-4317 or e-mail dps.alumni@detroitk12.org

The Detroit College Promise is helping DPS students attend colleges and universities free of charge.

The mission of The Detroit College Promise is to strengthen the Detroit Public Schools and the City of Detroit by offering a financial incentive to students and families, simply for enrolling in DPS and living in Detroit. The incentive is a scholarship for students that will pay for undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees at Michigan public colleges or universities. Starting with the class of 2011, all DPS students are eligible. The application deadline for students currently in grades 9-12 is December 1, 2010.

For more information or to apply click here.

Detroit Public Schools parents will be given the opportunity to enroll their children in almost any DPS school they choose – regardless of geographical boundary -- under the Open Enrollment Initiative that begins Tuesday July 6.

DPS is already an open enrollment district, but this formal initiative is unprecedented and will be parents’ only window of opportunity to change their children’s school assignments.

“The Open Enrollment Initiative is critical because it will help create an orderly academic environment from Day One when the new school year begins this fall,” said Karen Ridgeway, executive director of the Detroit Public Schools Office of Research, Evaluation, Assessment and Accountability. “We will be able to generate student schedules sooner so valuable instructional time won’t be wasted.”

Letters containing information and a questionnaire are being sent to all district parents today and a marketing campaign aimed at getting all students re-enrolled will be launched on Tuesday, ahead of an August general campaign to boost enrollment. Parents are expected to fill out one questionnaire for each child and will be allowed to select first, second and third choice schools.

The Open Enrollment Initiative does not apply to examination high schools or application schools, which have separate enrollment processes, but it will allow parents to select the school they think best suits their child’s needs. To help guide the decision, a new edition of the Detroit Public Schools Guide 2010-2011 will be available at enrollment service centers.

There will be three enrollment periods, with priority dates given to students whose schools are closing. Those students will be assigned to a school based on their address, but they may choose another school. The enrollment periods are as follows:

Students whose schools are closing: July 6-16
Students whose schools are not closing: July 16-23
Students who need special education services: July 6-Aug. 31

Enrollment will take place Mondays through Fridays at nine service centers throughout the city. They are:

DPS Welcome Center, 3031 W. Grand Blvd., (313) 873-9974, 8:30 a.m.-4:40 p.m.
Harris Building, 3700 Pulford, (313) 866-3775, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Breithaupt Career & Technical Center,9300 Hubbell, (313)-866-9550, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Central High School, 2425 Tuxedo, (313) 852-6995,7:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
Cody High School, Room 112, 18445 Cathedral, (313) 866-9497, 8:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
Brenda Scott School, 18400 Hoover, (313) 866-6268, 7:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
Duffield Elementary, 2715 Macomb, (313) 494-8350,8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Priest Elementary School, 7840 Wagner, (313) 216-5675,7:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
Charles Wright Academy, 19299 Berg Road, (313) 538-3024, 7:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.

Students may enroll in their school of choice as long as the school has not reached capacity for their particular grade. Enrollment preference will be given to students who live within the boundary of a school, and those students will be provided transportation if they meet the district’s criteria. Students who choose to attend schools outside their boundaries will not receive transportation

As part of the initiative, all Detroit Public Schools families:
• Will receive a letter that confirms the selection for each student in the family and informs them of the school in which each child is expected to attend this fall. Students must attend the assigned school on the first day of school. Transfer requests will not be honored during the first weeks of school.

• Are expected to have all students to report to school and attend all classes the first day of school, Tuesday, September 7, 2010.

• Attendance agents will be sent to the homes of students who did not report to class the first day of school. Parents will be required to re-enroll all students who did not attend school on the first day.