On Wednesday, March 25, the AAPS Board of Education held the last of its March meetings at the Earhart Administration Building, on 3700 Earhart Road. The meeting started out with public commentary from scheduled speakers in the community. Various topics were discussed during this time, ranging from specials time potentially being cut: such as art, music, and library, in elementary levels, to teacher contracts, and safety in schools.
Multiple students from Community High School spoke out about the teacher contracts and the importance of their educators to the school and their community.
“As a student at Community High School, I consistently receive support beyond the ask of my teachers,” Sophomore Della Bank said. “They provide support and guide us through tough situations, even when I’m confused about a topic because I wasn’t paying enough attention in class, my teachers still take the extra time to explain it to me personally in a way that I can understand.”
Sonia Chawla, a Research Compliance Officer at Eastern Michigan University, as well as a parent to two children in the AAPS school district, spoke to the board about safety in schools regarding fire escapes, door locks, and safety from behavior issues. She referenced data from an earlier meeting when the Board brought up requests from teachers about rules around behavioral issues.
“Right now, our teachers are being set up to fail, Chawla said. “Our teachers are getting physically hurt. Teachers are asking for help for building and district administration around behavior issues.”
The public commentary section was closed out by a speech from a fifth-grade student from Thurston advocating for a teacher contract.
After the Board heard from the scheduled speakers. Fred Klein, the president of the Ann Arbor Education Association, went up first. He started out with some highlights that happened recently in the community, mentioning Huron High School’s journalism and science programs and their successes with grants. He then delivered a speech on the teacher contracts. Next, he gave the floor to Rachel Goldberg, the librarian at Wines. She gave a speech on keeping specials in elementary schools, because of the benefits it gave students, such as helping them with their sense of self and having an open mind. She also mentioned how specials helped students find interests.
“I want to talk to you about the humanity and safety of our children and about young people as full humans with ideas and preferences and questions about the world,” Goldberg said. “Over the course of my career so far, I have worked to help teach thousands of children. I have hope for the future because I spend most of my waking hours with curious and creative young people.”
The next board meeting will be tonight at 7 p.m. at the Earhart Building.
