“I am an Ann Arbor Social Worker, and I am not the problem.”
“I am an Ann Arbor staff member, and I am not the problem.”
“We are Ann Arbor teachers, and we are not the problem.”
The Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education meeting on April 11 started with an AAPS staff protest outside of the newest Ann Arbor Public Schools Building: their Earhart Road Building. Teachers and staff members protested the Board in the rain and continued into the room where the board meeting was held. “We are teachers, and we are not the problem,” they chanted. “Hey hey! Ho ho! The Balas Palace has got to go! Not our fault – it’s yours!”
Since Superintendent Jazz Parks announced the $25 million budget cut for the 2024-25 school year, the Board of Education has begun planning on what to start eliminating. One of the options is reducing the number of teachers and other staff members in the district. During the Thursday board meeting, a key agenda item was voting on whether to authorize layoffs.
The resolution passed 4-3, with trustees Torchio Feaster, Susan Baskett, Susan Schmidt and Krystle DuPree voting for it, and trustees Ernesto Querijero, Jeff Gaynor and Rima Mohammad voting against it. The decision on whether or not to actually lay staff off has not been made yet.
“Teachers in Ann Arbor are not the problem, we are the solution,” A2 Steam teacher Jessica Bell said during the Public Commentary before the vote. “Families chose AAPS for the exceptional education which comes from your exceptional student-facing teachers. If you lose these teachers, you will lose more students.”
Bell is not the only person in the community unhappy about the prospect of laying off staff.
“In times of financial distress it’s easy to depersonalize and turn every staff member and student into a number,” community member Sonia Chawla said. “But look around at all of us here, and remember that for each teacher you cut, it’s our children who bleed.”
Students shared their opinions during Public Commentary as well.
“I love my teachers,” Skyline senior Sam Richardson said. “My teachers are role models. My teachers are smart and have integrity. I want to be like my teachers. Everyone should want to be like my teachers. This board has let down Ann Arbor teachers, students, and families in many ways.”
Many teachers also submitted statements to the Public Commentary, saying “I am an Ann Arbor teacher, and I am not the problem.”
Following the Public Commentary, one of the other key items on the agenda was an update on the budget. Two main budget plans were proposed. One suggested a $12.5 million cut for the 2024-25 school year and another $12.5 million cut for the 2025-26 school year. The other popular one was just to cut the $25 million in the 2024-25 school year. These will be voted on in future board meetings.
Parks will meet with community members before the plan is finalized. There will be a virtual town hall meeting on Monday, April 15, at 6:30 p.m. There will also be a community meeting at Huron High School on Tuesday, April 16, at 6:30 p.m. and one at Pioneer High School on Thursday, April 18, at 6 p.m.
The next Board of Education meeting will be a closed session on Wednesday, April 17. The next meeting open to the public will be on Wednesday, May 8, at the Earhart Road Building at 3700 Earhart Road. For more updates, people can keep checking thehuronemery.com or follow @thehuronemery on Instagram.
