The President of the AAPS Board of Education, Torchio Feaster, released a letter to the community announcing that the Board, through a “painful vote,” had hired current Interim Superintendent Jazz Parks to lead the District. The letter, in its entirety, appears below.
At the March AAPS Board meeting, three of the current Board members voted against offering Parks the top job: Jeff Gaynor, Ernesto Querijero, and Rima Mohammad. The three trustees objected to not following through with a national search to find candidates to apply to be the next AAPS leader.
Parks faces a $25 million budget deficit and the fallout from the Board’s recent passage of a controversial resolution, proposed by Trustees Mohammad and Querijero, calling for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.
In 2023-2024, the Ann Arbor Public Schools budget includes $331,421,045 in revenue from public sources this year ($99.7 million from local sources, i.e. property taxes) to educate 17,070 students. This budgeted total revenue is up from the District’s $189,585,280 budget in 2014, when the District had 16,259 students enrolled. The AAPS total revenue from public sources has increased by over 170 percent over the last decade, while the number of students enrolled has increased by just 811 (5 percent).
Where are the additional millions going? One answer is simple: give a bureaucracy more money, and the bureaucrats will find ways to blow it, usually on themselves.
The District outsourced transportation costs to “save money.” In 2014, when the District employed its own bus drivers, transportation cost $4.8 million. In the 2023-2024 budget, this outsourced transportation meant to save money is budgeted at $9.6 million. Likewise, the District outsourced maintenance services to “save money.” In the 2014 budget, operations and maintenance services were budgeted at $19.2 million. In the 2023-2024 budget, operations and maintenance are budgeted at $21.8 million.
Parks is currently the interim superintendent and the assistant superintendent of school leadership for AAPS; has worked worked in the school district in a variety of roles for the past 17 years.
Parks began working as interim superintendent on November 17, 2023. When she was appointed, AAPS District spokesman Andrew Cluely, in a statement said, “Everyone in the district has been working with Jazz for many, many years, and we know that she’s going to do a great job.”
March 21, 2024
Dear Ann Arbor Public Schools Community,
As the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education, we are committed to providing a world-class education that prepares our students for success and careers.
At our Wednesday, March 20, meeting, the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education voted to name Interim Superintendent Jazz Parks as our next superintendent of Ann Arbor Public Schools. Ms. Parks will assume the leadership post immediately, pending finalization of the contract.
We are genuinely excited to have Ms. Parks, with her 16 years of experience in Ann Arbor Public Schools, take over as the leader of our incredible district. Ms. Parks was selected from an impressive field of six qualified candidates, and we appreciate all our applicants for their passion, thoughtfulness, and experience.
Ms. Parks has amassed a number of incredible accomplishments, including:
Coached and supported the majority of the district’s comprehensive middle schools to become National Schools to Watch
Represented AAPS in coordinating the Equity Professional Development Series in collaboration with the county on equity, cultural competency, diversity, inclusion, belonging, social justice and anti-racism
Supported the district’s K-8 and middle schools
Re-engaged and facilitated the District Equity Leadership Team and provided professional development to school and district staff on equity, cultural competency, diversity, inclusion, belonging, social justice and anti-racism
Provided leadership, assistance, coaching and support to school and district leaders
Facilitated the development of the initial draft of the district equity plan and ensured alignment with the district’s strategic plan
Re-established the District Crisis Response Team and realigned processes and protocols to assist school and district teams in managing the increased need for crisis and mental health support for students
Served as President of the Ann Arbor Administrators Association and the Ann Arbor Black Administrators Association
Also on Wednesday, the Board passed an amended resolution to authorize our new Superintendent to send notice of layoff to those employees in the ASCSA Coordinators and Supervisors Bargaining Unit, if determined necessary, as we continue the process of bringing our budget in line with projections. Please see Interim Superintendent Park’s recent statement and FAQ document regarding additional measures we are taking to reduce costs and conserve resources.
This Board vote was a painful yet necessary step toward addressing multi-year budget shortfalls due to a number of factors including a decline in student enrollment over the last several years coupled with increases to our staff and well-deserved compensation increases for
our amazing team of world-class educators.
The Board continues to work with district leadership as we seek to cut approximately $25 million from the 2024-25 operating budget to meet fund balance requirements set by state law and our board policy.
As we navigate these challenges, we look forward to working with Superintendent Parks as she leads our district through this period. Board members remain committed to supporting Superintendent Parks to make decisions with transparency, compassion and integrity with the number one goal of minimizing impacts on our students and school community.
In addition, we have asked Superintendent Parks to bring us a comprehensive marketing and student attraction and retention plan to begin rebuilding our student enrollment numbers.
Ann Arbor Public Schools are consistently ranked among the best in the nation and that will continue despite our current challenges. The exceptional education we provide to our students has made us a model for others to emulate.
I want to personally thank our staff and community members for rallying around our schools at this challenging time. Like our new Superintendent and many of you, I am confident we will emerge from these challenges a stronger district poised for continued success, growth and student achievement.
Torchio Feaster
Board President
Ann Arbor Public Schools
Board of Education
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