Ann Arbor is facing a $25 million deficit that can be resolved

On By Vaseline

Ann Arbor Public Schools has built a national reputation for providing our students with a high-quality education. We have a proven track record of success and a culture of excellence. The high bar we have set for learning and results will not change as a result of the efforts to reduce spending.

At this point, a lot of attention has understandably been focused on the $25 million budget deficit facing Ann Arbor Public Schools. Rest assured, my Board of Education colleagues and I remain committed to carefully balancing our budget while doing everything we can to ensure our students continue to receive an excellent education.

I have two children who attend Ann Arbor Public Schools, and I was honored to be appointed to the board in October and elected chair of the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education in January. While I did not create the current budget situation, I am committed to addressing it with our newly hired Superintendent, Jazz Parks. Our administration is focused on addressing this shortage in a way that minimizes the impact on our students and classrooms. We are also using this difficult moment to streamline, refocus and reprioritize our school operations so that we are better positioned for future growth and success.

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We know that our schools and students continue to perform at a high level. In April, U.S. News & World Report ranked four of our high schools – Skyline, Pioneer, Community and Huron – among the top 50 high schools in Michigan, and in the top 10% of high schools nationwide.

Our students continue to excel in the classroom, while our district leaders continue the difficult task of addressing our budget deficit. We have retained an independent, third-party auditor to review our district’s finances so that our decisions are based on facts and real numbers, not speculation. Their work, along with feedback from our community, will help us establish stronger protocols, better monitoring, and a clearer process to create accountability for the future and ensure this situation never happens again.

In recent weeks, our district submitted a corrective action plan to the state outlining the district’s broad vision to immediately achieve a minimum fund balance of 5%, as we are required to do under state law, as we work to increase our fund balance. up to 6% to 15% as per our board policy.

Members of our district’s school board and leadership team have spent the past few weeks seeking feedback from taxpayers, families, students and staff about our financial challenges. More than 4,000 community members completed our survey on this topic, and more than 3,000 community members recently participated in a virtual town hall.

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We are taking this input into account as we move forward with our comprehensive district plan, which will undoubtedly require staff reductions. This is both unfortunate and inevitable. We are committed to ensuring that these reductions occur in a way that minimizes the impact on classrooms and student learning.

At the same time, we look forward to telling the great stories of achievement and excellence that happen every day in our district. We know that by partnering with our community and highlighting the incredible success stories of our faculty, students and alumni, we will attract new students and excite families already enrolled in AAPS to begin their educational journey students to continue with us.

These factors, along with a stronger commitment to better stewards of taxpayer dollars, will mean a stronger Ann Arbor Public School in the years to come. I look forward to continuing our work together so that our district is well positioned for a healthy and prosperous future.

Torchio Feester

The writer is the chairman of the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education