At 7:02 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, Interim Superintendent Jazz Parks announced via email that there are “significant budget challenges” in the Ann Arbor Public School District. According to Parks’ email, former Superintendent Jeanice Swift had made the Board of Education aware of a shortfall in the current school year budget in November. The school board meeting, beginning at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, had presentations about the budget.
In response, the district called to cut 25 million dollars from the 2024-2025 budget.
“I have authorized several immediate steps to reduce spending and cut costs,” Parks said. “Reducing central office and administrative staff positions[,] freezing hiring[,] conducting in-depth reviews on all central office, district and school budget for efficiencies and cost savings [and] renegotiating contracts with vendors to identify cost savings on contracted services. These challenges result from three main historical factors.”
- AAPS staff has increased by 480 in the past 10 years
- Student enrollment has decreased by 1,123 over the last 4 years
- Recent agreements with the staff, “including well-deserved and well-earned raises for teachers and staff, approved by our Board of Education resulted in increased staffing costs”
As stated in the email, the district has been working with a third-party financial expert, Plante Moran, to analyze the finances before proceeding.
“I assure you I will prioritize making decisions with our team in a way that minimizes the impact on classrooms and student learning,” Parks said.
More information and opportunities to share feedback with the district will be provided in the coming weeks. The next board meeting will be 7 p.m on Wednesday, March 20. Board meetings can be viewed in-person at the Earhart Road Building located at 3700 Earhart Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, this Zoom link or CTN Ann Arbor.
“By working together, we can and will get through this challenging situation as a district and community,” Parks said.
