According to information released on Jan. 8 by Washtenaw Intermediate School District officials, a higher than normal absence rate of Washtenaw ISD Transportation staff caused Ann Arbor Public Schools and Ypsilanti Community Schools to cancel school on January 8, 2015. In Ann Arbor 24 drivers and monitors were absent. With substitute coverage, the Ann Arbor routes were short four drivers and 10 monitors.
There are 97 drivers and 31 monitors for Ann Arbor. The number of staff calling in for Ann Arbor was more than three times the typical absence rate. Upon investigation, the reasons for the absences ranged from illness, planned days off, car trouble, and lack of childcare.
WISD officials released a statement which said: “ISD understands that local districts need lead time to make informed decisions about school closings in order to notify parents, students, and staff in a timely manner. Unfortunately the information regarding the number of staff absences wasn’t known until 5:45 a.m. WISD is implementing procedures to ensure staff notification regarding work absences is submitted earlier, in order to allow for implementation of future contingency plans.”
The Ann Arbor Public Schools contracted with the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (ISD) to provide transportation to Ann Arbor students. During the 2013-2014 school year, the district paid the Washtenaw ISD $5.1 million for transportation, up from $4.7 million the prior year. AAPS has 68 general education routes, 20 special education routes and eight preschool routes. General transportation is a service provided to the district’s families and not mandatory. Bus service for special education students is required by the state. In Dec. 2014, district officials issued a request for proposals from transportation companies.
The AAPS Board of Education’s governance committee and administration is charged with interviewing transportation vendors the week of Jan. 19. That committee is expected to make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees by Jan. 28. If the Washtenaw ISD loses its contract to provide transportation services, the AAPS Board of Education would issue a non-renewal letter.
The district has 129 buses with an average age of 9.1 years, and 41 percent of the fleet is more than 10 years old.
As a member of the Detroit School Board under Emergency Manager, I hope that Ann Arbor will stand with us to get rid of emergency management in all of its forms. The State has closed our best schools, taken 15 schools from DPS and handed them off the the separate and unequal Educational Achievement Authority and given 9 of our schools to “self governing” unaccountable and unelected bodies. Detroit SChool for the Arts has been taken over by the University of Michigan and denies our own students access to some of our best programs. Elected board members of DETROIT cannot enter the building or use it for Board meetings because University of Michigan DOES NOT ALLOW US USE OF IT. Many people do not know about this unjust and racist arrangement, but we do hope your paper will investigate the relationship of DSA and U of M and stand with what is fair.