FORMER ANN ARBOR Public School Superintendent Patricia Green, on the subject of public records, told District parents that if they wanted to view public records, they should use the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
On October 28, 2014, The Ann Arbor Independent sent the following FOIA for the following public records to Liz Margolis, the FOIA officer of the Ann Arbor Public Schools:
1. Number (aggregate) of students who participated in middle and high school sports programs during fiscal years 2008 and 2009.
2. Number of students who paid to participate in each sport at all Ann Arbor Public Schools in the academic years 2010, 2011 and 2012.
3. All Fees (including pay to participate fees, one-time fees, equipment fees, physical examination fees, booster club fees) charged to participate in each sport at middle and high schools in the academic years 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
4. Total game admissions revenues for Skyline, Huron and Pioneer High Schools during academic years 2011 and 2012.
In response, Liz Margolis has replied that to produce the 100 pages of materials will require 120 hours of searching on the part of high school athletic directors, 40 hours each—an entire work week—for Skyline, Huron and Pioneer High School officials to locate the requested materials.
Further, the AAPS claims that the lowest paid employee capable of searching the records is paid $20.81 per hour, or a yearly salary of over $41,000. By law, the AAPS may only charge the hourly rate of the lowest paid employee capable of doing the requested work.
In 2011, in response to a FOIA for public records that showed the student count numbers in every classroom at every school, AAPS officials first claimed no such data existed.
In response, Liz Margolis has replied that to produce the 100 pages of materials will require 120 hours of searching on the part of high school athletic directors, 40 hours each—an entire work week.
After a FOIA of emails between and among AAPS officials concerning the original FOIA request was filed, emails between AAPS officials showed them discussing the requested student count spreadsheet.
Prying information out of bureaucratic entities can be tedious. In theory, most of the information compiled by a school district belongs to the people who pay the bills, the public. In practice, school district officials can be extremely recalcitrant about producing documents and records.
Liz Margolis claims that the Athletic Directors at the high schools do not tally admission fees charged for sporting events, nor do they tally pay-to- participate fees. As a result, the ADs would need to go through their records of each sport and add up revenues.
Approximately $2.7 million dollars from the AAPS general fund goes to supporting athletics in the district, that’s down from $2.9 million in 2012. The most recent audit of AAPS finances shows that athletic program revenues included $785,374 charged for services, which amounts to almost one-third of the total $2.7 million budgeted for athletics.
The Ann Arbor Independent recently reported that neighboring school districts within Washtenaw County, as well as districts throughout southeastern lower Michigan have eliminated pay to participate fees. The AAPS has increased fees charged.
Furthermore, AAPS officials have framed their collection of additional fees as “budget deficit reductions.”