Board of Education

“It was a great opportunity to just reconnect with people and see where they are now and how they received the first year and a half of work and really to learn where they think we should go next,” says Superintendent Jeanice Swift.

“Highest accomplishment was that of guiding the Ann Arbor Public Schools through one of its most turbulent times in its history. During that time he served with dedication, skill, vision and patience, as he, his staff, and the board deliberated on the future direction of the Ann Arbor Public Schools District,” says former School Board Member Henry Johnson.

“We’re expecting more students, we’re expecting to hire more teachers. We think if we’re able to continue to grow in that way we’ll actually be in a better financial position and that’s the environment where we’ll be allowed to do something more for our staff,” says School Board Vice- President Christine Stead.

“It’s very difficult to build up fund equity when you’re essentially at a break-even budget. I’m concerned what will happen the next time there is an economic downturn,” says School Board Trustee Andy Thomas.

“It is certainly a far cry from some of the budgets that we’ve had to work on in the past where we’ve had 10, 15, 18 million dollars to try to find in the budget, I think that the general feeling is that it’s very positive, but cautious,” School Board President Deb Mexicotte says describing the 2015-16 budget plan.

With 73 percent support, voters last week approved Ann Arbor Public Schools $33 million dollar bond proposal. The Board of Education has now authorized the sale of the first series of bonds.

Every Ann Arbor Public Schools classroom will get new technology next school year thanks to a $6.2 million dollar purchase approved by the Board of Education last night. New laptops, desktops, printers, and iPads are included in the package.