Ann Arbor Public Schools says several factors led to $25M budget deficit
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (FOX 2) - Once again, there were a lot of emotions at an Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) meeting Tuesday night as the district tries to resolve a $25 million deficit in the next school budget.
Anger was one of those emotions, said Allyson Samborn.
Samborn is among the many Ann Arbor parents trying to figure out how the school district is going to make up for the budget hole without compromising key learning programs.
"How could that happen? Where are they going to get $25 million? I mean it’s crazy," she said. "It’s just unheard of."
Out of the $25 million financial gap, $14 million is attributed to a clerical mistake. Last week, the school board approved layoffs to alleviate the issue.
Community meetings are being held with the goal of providing updates on the deficit and hearing feedback about where cuts should happen. A virtual townhall was held on Monday, and an in-person meeting was held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Huron High School. Parents, students, staff and administrators were all in attendance.
District officials point to a combination of factors that led to their current situation, such as the hiring of more staff over the past ten years and the departure of over 1,100 students over the course of four years – including through the COVID-19 pandemic.
And with all of this, the district has seen higher operating costs overall. However, it remains unclear which positions will be cut or how many people will lose their jobs.
"We have authorized a third party review so that we can hopefully get some additional context for that," said Interim AAPS Superintendent Jazz Parks. "We were not the ones who were there for those decisions, so it does take a review – not being a part of those budget conversations. "
The former superintendent left in 2023 after fractured relations with the Ann Arbor Board of Education. Under the new leadership, the district has recommended reducing administrative and central office positions while enacting a hiring freeze as some vendor contracts get reworked.
Ann Arbor Public Schools teacher layoffs approved amid $25M budget deficit
Layoffs are coming to the Ann Arbor Public Schools district after the school board approved a plan fueled by a massive budget deficit.
The idea of selling one of AAPS' buildings has also been floated around.
"First, we are getting input from our staff, from our families, from our students," Parks said.
The teachers union, the Ann Arbor Education Association Vice President, had plenty to say in the meantime.
"Looking at programming, looking at other things (like) non-essential personnel before we move on to teachers who are in the trenches every day, doing the work of working with our students and educating them," said Tamala Bell, the vice president of the Ann Arbor teachers union.
The Ann Arbor Education Association said the district has a plan for about $7 million of the budget hole, but there is still about $18 million to deal with.