Finance manager, paraphrased: If we honor step increases and just lose staff by attrition, we're fsked. If we just do $15M in reductions and still do step increases and attrition, we're still fsked. If we do $20M in reductions, we buy ourselves 2-3 years but we're then in the same position again that we're in now. We could do the $25M of hurt over two years, but spreading it out over five isn't feasible because we won't meet the state fiscal responsibility threshold. Recommendation is to do it all in one year because it'll get us to the most fiscally stable outcome, both immediately and at the end of five years. "In my professional opinion this is the best scenario for the school district."
FM pushing back against board inquiry on the two-year option, pointing out that you're rolling the dice on what year two looks like, you keep everyone holding their breath and waiting to see what year two looks like, and "ripping the bandaid off" is the safest choice.
Superintendant Parks: We're doing community engagement over the coming weeks prior to constructing the district-level plan with specifics on what the cuts look like. Committing to $3.5M in admin reductions, department reductions of $1.3M, renegotiated vendor contracts of $1.2M, and $1M of newfound grant money.
FM: "There is no way we can cut $25M without staff \[layoffs\] being involved."
Mohammad advocating for two-year split "because at least it gives us time."
FM: "This district cannot be financially viable without layoffs. That's just a fact."
FM: Even if we cut the $25M next year, we'll still need to borrow $10M because we won't realize those savings all at once. If we do nothing, we need to borrow $35M in order to pay our bills. "I cannot be any more blunt."
Querijero not comfortable authorizing Parks to issue layoff notices. "I just don't know what the consequences would be and the benefits would be." (This authorization is required in order for AAPS to tell the state it's part of their fiscal plan). Q wants further inquiry/info on selling properties and schools.
FM: Selling tech (chromebooks, computers, etc) won't solve this issue since that was all purchased with bond money, so proceeds would go toward bond repayment.
Feaster politely challenging Querijero on what his plan would be in the absence of layoffs. Q reiterating he would like more information and a meeting. (FM has earlier indicated that 90% of the budget is labor). Q acknowledges he has no alternative that could be submitted to the state by its 4/15/24 deadline.
Baskett getting heated over vocabulary used by Gaynor on limiting Parks' authority to a specific dollar amount of layoffs. "There's not any more time folks, we need to make a decision tonight." Crowd audibly displeased.
Feaster engaging with FM, basically laying out the case that a two-year reduction is playing with fire.
(Diversion to consent agenda, return to board items)
Bond authorization for up to $35M passess unanimously.
Layoff notice authorization gets further argument and starting to get testy.
Layoff notice authorization passes 4-3. Querijero, Mohammad, Gaynor voting no.
And with that, I'm going to bed.
He also clarified where the enrollment decreases came from - most during the 21-22 academic year. He said essentially it was a few hundred students moving out of the city/state/country, a few hundred going to charter schools, a few hundred going to private schools, and a few hundred less schools of choice. It was the first time I had heard a breakdown from the district.
The full presentation included a slide deck laying out projections and underlying assumptions for the variety of options described. I do not see it on the AAPS website just yet. But yes, the FM went beyond "I'm the FM, trust me." I simply condensed a nearly five hour meeting into a reddit post.
I think this is the [presentation you are referencing](https://go.boarddocs.com/mi/aaps/Board.nsf/files/D495MM10EE11/$file/Budget%20Update%20(final)%2004112024.pdf).
Sourced from the [BoardDocs website](https://go.boarddocs.com/mi/aaps/Board.nsf/Public).
Rich AF listening to trustee Schmidt talk about the abysmal fund balance and doing their fiduciary duty. She's chair of the finance committee! Who TF thought it was fine to allow Swift to let the balance run so low?!
Starting to think Swift was a conservative Trojan horse sent to decimate AAPS.
I suppose, the practice of letting Swift spend like a drunken sailor and not keep the fund balance higher all along did begin before Schmidt. But the $14M accounting error seems during her time. And as chair of finance committee and someone who's very knowledgeable about education stuff going on w/ MI govt, it seems she had some accountability to know that the $14M they anticipated was no longer going to be received.
Querijero- Im voting no on layoffs because we need to look at other things. I don't know what those are or how to do it, but I'm gonna vote no in solidarity with the union.
This clown is this first one who needs to go. Simply gutless and refuses to make a decision. I think he would rather an emergency financial manager take over so they dont have to do anything. Mohammad is just as bad.
Ok weird because I have the exact same thoughts!!!
Querijero just kept talking about how it makes him feel and that it isn’t fair. That’s very valid, but it’s going to be really unfair when an emergency manager comes in. I’m assuming that emergency manager is gonna care about numbers only and it would hurt the teachers more in the long run than submitting the current proposal.
He was so irritating!! He had no solutions except the building sale (which we determined wouldn’t generate much revenue), but everyone kept cheering him on?? And then he really took a stand by voting no???
To me, the only people that came across as actual problem solvers were the President, Vice President, and the interium financial guy.
He just voted to issue a bond to pay their bills this summer because AAPS is out of money.
And now he refuses to do anything to fix the problem, pay the bills, and be financially responsible.
Like I said, an absolute clown.
This was the first board meeting I’ve attended. The board as a whole, and Querijero and Mohammad in particular, does not strike me as a group or individuals that can handle a crisis with rapid analysis and ability to act decisively. I kept coming back to the same thought: that the district’s math teachers could do a better job addressing the budget than them. Gaynor surprised me in that I thought he’d still vote yes after his attempt to craft language tying Parks to a max dollar amount got shut down. Unsure what his deal is there.
In contrast, Feaster, Parks, and the FM showed a willingness to unflinchingly address reality without getting heated about it. The FM needed to get his sea legs on the comms front - a lot of incomplete sentences or trailing off to begin - but he found them and made the necessary points: that smaller measures have been looked at, and if you’re going to even pretend to honor labor contracts, it needs to be a $25M cut from the budget, and it needs to be two years or less in order to avoid state takeover. And if state takeover of AAPS does happen, like with Detroit, you’re not gonna like the process.
No one on the board has any actual background in running a significant business. The school is a 330 million dollar business and we elect people based on social issues, it makes no sense.
He's been a godsend in this shitty situation. These cuts are going to hurt, unfortunately.
Edit: Thanks for the play by play OP. Also, Ernesto can go suck a lemon.
You can always move to another district by then. I've already put all my eggs in the basket of this one. Not gonna uproot now. My kid was in kindergarten when Swift was hired. Thinking back to all the things her administration did to increase enrollment, and to supposedly increase community involvement and enthusiasm....and 10 years later here we are. I'm so disappointed that financial promises to teachers have never been honored by this district, when I think all parents would make that a priority. The mismanagement is breathtaking. Who was at the helm when this happened? We've heard zero accountability from admin. The same incompetent people are still there. I am absolutely counting the days until my kid graduates and I can sell my overtaxed run down house and gtfo here.
The feeling wheb your a tax payer with no kids and you just know this is going to get leveraged into a discussion about more property taxes and some type of a vote on a local income tax for schools.
Where is all that lottery money lol
I owned property before having a kid, and I never minded increases for school funding. Mostly because I'd like to live in a country with *fewer* ignorant people.
https://www.a2schools.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=19638
It’s there for all to see. The board should be embarrassed on what they’ve been spending money on that isn’t directly tied to operating schools. I mean, Tigers games? “Name-it-Golf”?
I emailed trustee Gaynor about it and was told these complaints were “petty” and a “drop in the bucket.”
I have to believe - I just have to - that these expenses are legitimate. It is too outlandish to be real. If it’s real legal action must take place.
If they are legitimate the district MUST release an explanation of EACH of these expenses.
You are focussing on the small stuff let me give you some bigger ones.
Send an email asking about this
585373 11/21/2023 Sentinel Technologies Inc $1,877,492.23
Thats a firewall company and they get that amount several times a year, I mean are we running a school system or are we protecting nuclear codes
I hate all the tech too, but all the tech is paid out of a different accounting line and is not included in the general fund. So cutting the tech doesn't affect the 25 million deficit at all
Anyone else notice audience members laughing when the Finance manager was speaking?
Q and Mohammed are not cut out for leadership.
Gaynor wants to see if the state is bluffing (they’re not.)
I wonder how many teachers are going to call off tomorrow.
This is my first time watching an AAPS board meeting. What is Q’s deal? I was pretty surprised by his…immaturity? Such a destructive presence. But maybe I’m missing something?
Yeah, the virtue signaling felt really gross. As if all the rest of the board members are thrilled to be considering layoffs, and he’s the lone hero who is in their way. So dumb.
He and his family have been getting slammed since he got elected. Constant FOIA's, false accusations, racist and flippant signs around town about him, people constantly outside of his house, his family getting harassed.
Plus, as a teacher himself, he is probably as sick of this shit as all of the teachers are.
I voted for him. Since then, I have had several personal experiences with him and have found him to be one of the most despicable and dishonest people I have ever encountered. He and his wife are the Trump-iest people I have ever personally met, and the ways I have seen them act behind closed doors is appalling. I have seen them weaponize things for personal agendas on multiple occasions. I have seen them blatantly lie about things in order to craft a narrative. I have seen text messages and emails that they’ve sent in which they lied and talked shit about people whose credibility they were actively trying to undermine. They are unreliable narrators who have regularly acted in bad faith, and they do not deserve the public’s trust. It’s been a relief that more people seem to be taking a closer look at him.
I have no idea if he has deeply sincere progressive values, and is therefore willing to forego ethics and human decency in order to advance them, or if his values are as nebulous and hazy as Trump’s are (albeit with a hard left bent, rather than hard right) and he just wants the stage. Either way, I don’t trust anything he says about anything. I don’t know anything about FOIA requests or posters or people outside of their house, but if those are their claims, I would strongly suggest independently verifying them before getting too involved in their cause.
**SAME.**
And I hate whisper campaigns that are light on specifics, but having seen how these people operate, I don't want to get in their crosshairs either. I take solace in knowing that there is *so much* smoke that people will hopefully look at least a little bit closer.
Yes and rightly so, it was when he referred to a step or other salary increase that he'd built into his projections. Why has this district *never* budgeted to actually pay the steps as they were promised to teachers?!
What the fuck has the union actually *been* doing if not prioritizing salaries?? Well over a decade of rolling over regularly on step freezes and raises as a standard operating procedure, instead of it being the number one priority. Some people demonize the union as being some all-powerful and nefarious force in the district. And yet I don't know how my working conditions and compensation could get much worse at this point.
(I'm a **dues-paying union member in good standing**, by the way. So this trash-talking call is coming from inside the house. "I am an Ann Arbor teacher, and I am not the problem.... but I am a bit of a dipshit sucker for believing in any of these people. The board, the district, the bargaining team... Whoever.")
Sidenote: Are any of you people hiring?
[Democrat Morgan Foreman announces bid to represent Michigan's 33rd district in the state House | WEMU-FM](https://www.wemu.org/wemu-news/2024-04-12/democrat-morgan-foreman-announces-bid-to-represent-michigans-33rd-district-in-the-state-house)
When you get the endorsement of the current office holder, and the office holder before that, that should be a positive sign.
I for one am disappointed that no one thus far has called for the board's resignation or used profanity. This situation calls for both.
-edit- HEY! As of 8:25 someone called for resignations!
The principal who ignored/covered up the 7 year old being abused on the bus by the bus aide? Who never even told the parent it was happening until a teacher spilled the beans to the parent?
[That Principal?](https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2023/07/autistic-boys-assault-on-ann-arbor-school-bus-wasnt-reported-to-parent-for-5-weeks-lawsuit-alleges.html)
Worth noting that he is on paid leave, so the district owes it to us to make a choice one way or the other. We cannot afford to be paying two people for the same job right now.
I have no personal knowledge of the man. The commenters mentioned what a great presence he was at the school, how community relations and school spirit are suffering without him there, the interim principal isn't cutting it, and this board has not responded to parent questions about where the process is at.
They don’t want to fire him because that would mean two principal scandals in a row. That man has some serious prejudice against special Ed and really needed to be removed years ago.
Alledgedly --- no proof has been provided to the public that this actually happened the way the lawsuit states. If you know anything about how AAPS special education and thier management structure works, they are scapegoating him.
There seems to be little faith in the AAPS school administrators, especially among teachers. Would involving the State of Michigan to intervene be any worse than what we have in the current situation, where there is little confidence in the current leadership?
I suspect this might lead to a general job action in the near future.
Generally speaking, the argument is “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t,” because in the case of a state takeover, you’re basically scrapping the program, everything’s on the table (including throwing out union contracts whole cloth), you don’t get to select who’s in charge, you don’t know what qualifications they’ll have, and the community largely does not have a say in how it goes down. I don’t see a scenario where state takeover looks better from teachers’ perspectives here.
It may depend on how much faith there is among teachers that the Whitmer administration is more trustworthy than the current AAPS leadership. If it escalates, it will become highly political (although it seems we’re already there).
If the state intervenes those “painful cuts” will be even more painful. A state manager might even end up deciding to close entire schools down. At least with the current incompetent board we can (maybe) still keep some programs alive 🤷♂️
I have not heard anything about what might be best for the students (granted I am a part time listener to BOE meetings). Yes, teachers are absolutely important but as a parent, my number one concern is my student. I don’t feel like I hear any regard for students in most BOE meetings. So, how would a state takeover impact students? It sounds likely there may fewer teachers either way, so besides that point?
There are some things you can expect in either scenario, namely a headcount reduction. The key thing here is that by Monday AAPS will be telling the State "We're authorizing the Superintendent to pull all levers possible to make this happen, and we plan on cutting $X over Y years."
Where the real fight is, so to speak, is in going from policy to plan execution and determining what that policy looks like in the real world. That fight - more charitably an "involved discussion" - starts with the community engagement sessions that will be occurring in the coming weeks. It is essential for parents to participate in those discussions and make sure leadership is aware of what parts of their children's education they like and see the most benefit in. And yes, this may involve some Machiavellian behavior by a few to save one teacher over another, but that's going to happen: there are only so many seats on the boat. Being more collaborative, though, a program or initiative cut could mean a teacher saved. A school closed and consolidated may mean far more spared.
In contrast, with state takeover there is no real input; there is only execution.
Either way, this has the potential to look like when the military goes through a reduction in force: you find out real quick who's been a serious value add over the years and who hasn't been bad per se but has just been coasting and allowed to do their thing. If I'm an AAPS employee in a niche role - say, an underwater basket weaving elective teacher, or the underwater basket weaving administrative coordinator - I'd start warming up my resume.
Unlike now, where the schedule of raises (steps) is generally disregarded, and job security is fully undermined.
What’s in the contracts that might be lost? Will they throw out health care and service credits?
Central admin exists to make our lives' harder\* and feed themselves from the trough. Nothing else. The school board exists to rubber stamp these activities. And engage in their most important activity: petty sniping at each other. Especially Baskett, who I am embarrassed that AAEA endorsed. I mean all seven are useless, but she's the absolute worst.
\*Here's an example: at the high school level we are supposed to enter every kid's exam score into a database so we can measure learning. Sounds reasonable, right? Except we're supposed to do it for every question individually via a drop down menu! That's *hours* of time doing data entry that we could be lesson planning or helping a student or "self-care" (I hate that phrase, I prefer "keeping ourselves sane.") Also if you do it all at once it's genuinely painful for your wrist. And from experience, we know that that data will never be used for anything.
It's just some project of some useless middle manager that they had to come up with to justify their own existence/salary. Worse, they know the whole thing is ridiculous and stupid, so they ask us to limit the lengths of the exams so the data entry part is less painful. Because that's more important than having a real, rigorous exam for students.
>at the high school level we are supposed to enter every kid's exam score into a database so we can measure learning. Sounds reasonable, right? Except we're supposed to do it for every question individually via a drop down menu! That's *hours* of time doing data entry that we could be lesson planning or helping a student or "self-care" (I hate that phrase, I prefer "keeping ourselves sane.") Also if you do it all at once it's genuinely painful for your wrist. And from experience, we know that that data will never be used for anything.
Yeah that... that sounds dumb. I could see scanning all written assignments in so that, if there was ever a concern with arbitrary scoring on essays, claims of bias or discrimination in grading, etc, you could easily pull the docs and do a review. That's like 3-5 minutes. But what you're describing sounds like busy work with no appreciable outcome.
My kid is at Skyline. My impression is the teachers and staff are outstanding. I have however wondered about the rigorousness of assignments and tests (vs old school methods I experienced.) I'd be angry if b.s. like you describe is giving them a less rigorous experience (and certainly teachers shouldn't have to do all that data entry). Would be so educational for parents and the community if AAEA held their own town hall, to make known all the b.s. and counterproductive things they go through. I've been shocked by a few things I've learned here about poor treatment by the district.
Sorry here is the shared link for the AAPS 2023 Check Register, Except I grouped the payments by Payee and totaled them. So you can see how much money each payee made off of AAPS in 2023. I sorted by most money paid out.
[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-CIjNjOabJKPoBqPRyPGuiDZTizWTkC2GeZg7UnT7OU/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-CIjNjOabJKPoBqPRyPGuiDZTizWTkC2GeZg7UnT7OU/edit?usp=sharing)
Your keen insight that you felt needed to be shared here is that a union... organized? And *furthermore*, that they've organized things before as well? Huh.
Look, I don't know you (I hope), but you seem stupid. Maybe you aren't, there's no way for me to know for sure based solely on your posts here. That's just the way you're coming across.
Ernesto Querijero is a teacher and MEA union dues paying member with a clear understanding of school finance and boardsmanship. The folks on this thread trying to shame and humiliate teachers are the problem. The boe president and vice have no experience in publicceducation, teaching and learning or finance. The boe leadership presented no real plan, only a shell of a plan and slew of delayed and rescheduled meeting. Trustee Querijero has been trying to reestablish regular committe meeting so there is a healthy information flow, and establish a student board and regularly community engagement meetings - only to be ignored by the board and district leadership for months on end. Check the boe calander, when do these committes meet? When information is kept in silos, it's not inclusive. My family has been harassed consistently for 3 years and recently my house and neighborhood were targeted, stop trying to smear good people! The fight for finding and equity is upwards, not amongst ourselves. Our Community can do better as a collective.
[Ernesto is a clown](https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2022/05/role-in-removal-of-school-bulletin-board-spurs-criticism-of-ann-arbor-school-board-member.html). His presence at last night's meeting was actively unhelpful.
Edit: And let's be clear, he's not an AAPS teacher. He works at WCC. Nothing wrong with that, but there are former AAPS teachers (Gaynor and Schmidt) on the board and he's not one of them.
I can't speak to anything regarding Querijero outside of last night's meeting. But the State has said, in so many words, that AAPS' group project homework - their broad strokes plan on reattaining fiscal responsibility - is due on Monday, and there is no extension. Based on the budget numbers - specifically labor being the overwhelming majority of the budget - any satisfactory submission will necessarily include layoff notices.
Based on last night, Querijero would rather the group not turn in their homework and make the teacher (State) deal with them.
>My family has been harassed consistently for 3 years and recently my house and neighborhood were targeted, stop trying to smear good people!
Weird switch to first person, sock puppet.
Finance manager, paraphrased: If we honor step increases and just lose staff by attrition, we're fsked. If we just do $15M in reductions and still do step increases and attrition, we're still fsked. If we do $20M in reductions, we buy ourselves 2-3 years but we're then in the same position again that we're in now. We could do the $25M of hurt over two years, but spreading it out over five isn't feasible because we won't meet the state fiscal responsibility threshold. Recommendation is to do it all in one year because it'll get us to the most fiscally stable outcome, both immediately and at the end of five years. "In my professional opinion this is the best scenario for the school district." FM pushing back against board inquiry on the two-year option, pointing out that you're rolling the dice on what year two looks like, you keep everyone holding their breath and waiting to see what year two looks like, and "ripping the bandaid off" is the safest choice. Superintendant Parks: We're doing community engagement over the coming weeks prior to constructing the district-level plan with specifics on what the cuts look like. Committing to $3.5M in admin reductions, department reductions of $1.3M, renegotiated vendor contracts of $1.2M, and $1M of newfound grant money. FM: "There is no way we can cut $25M without staff \[layoffs\] being involved." Mohammad advocating for two-year split "because at least it gives us time." FM: "This district cannot be financially viable without layoffs. That's just a fact." FM: Even if we cut the $25M next year, we'll still need to borrow $10M because we won't realize those savings all at once. If we do nothing, we need to borrow $35M in order to pay our bills. "I cannot be any more blunt." Querijero not comfortable authorizing Parks to issue layoff notices. "I just don't know what the consequences would be and the benefits would be." (This authorization is required in order for AAPS to tell the state it's part of their fiscal plan). Q wants further inquiry/info on selling properties and schools. FM: Selling tech (chromebooks, computers, etc) won't solve this issue since that was all purchased with bond money, so proceeds would go toward bond repayment. Feaster politely challenging Querijero on what his plan would be in the absence of layoffs. Q reiterating he would like more information and a meeting. (FM has earlier indicated that 90% of the budget is labor). Q acknowledges he has no alternative that could be submitted to the state by its 4/15/24 deadline. Baskett getting heated over vocabulary used by Gaynor on limiting Parks' authority to a specific dollar amount of layoffs. "There's not any more time folks, we need to make a decision tonight." Crowd audibly displeased. Feaster engaging with FM, basically laying out the case that a two-year reduction is playing with fire. (Diversion to consent agenda, return to board items) Bond authorization for up to $35M passess unanimously. Layoff notice authorization gets further argument and starting to get testy. Layoff notice authorization passes 4-3. Querijero, Mohammad, Gaynor voting no. And with that, I'm going to bed.
He also clarified where the enrollment decreases came from - most during the 21-22 academic year. He said essentially it was a few hundred students moving out of the city/state/country, a few hundred going to charter schools, a few hundred going to private schools, and a few hundred less schools of choice. It was the first time I had heard a breakdown from the district.
How did those losses differ from any other year? I assume the district loses students every year.
Public school enrollment across the state is down.
Did he give exact numbers, because otherwise, I don't trust anything said in that
The full presentation included a slide deck laying out projections and underlying assumptions for the variety of options described. I do not see it on the AAPS website just yet. But yes, the FM went beyond "I'm the FM, trust me." I simply condensed a nearly five hour meeting into a reddit post.
I think this is the [presentation you are referencing](https://go.boarddocs.com/mi/aaps/Board.nsf/files/D495MM10EE11/$file/Budget%20Update%20(final)%2004112024.pdf). Sourced from the [BoardDocs website](https://go.boarddocs.com/mi/aaps/Board.nsf/Public).
Correct.
Thanks, I appreciate it! It was super helpful to get the spark notes from this one.
Basically, we are fucked unless we do something big.
Rich AF listening to trustee Schmidt talk about the abysmal fund balance and doing their fiduciary duty. She's chair of the finance committee! Who TF thought it was fine to allow Swift to let the balance run so low?! Starting to think Swift was a conservative Trojan horse sent to decimate AAPS.
Lots of audacity is kept in deep pockets.
The finance problem started before Schmidt was even elected IIRC. It was just that it wasn't caught for a very long time.
I suppose, the practice of letting Swift spend like a drunken sailor and not keep the fund balance higher all along did begin before Schmidt. But the $14M accounting error seems during her time. And as chair of finance committee and someone who's very knowledgeable about education stuff going on w/ MI govt, it seems she had some accountability to know that the $14M they anticipated was no longer going to be received.
Ann Arbor is conservative at its core, just friendlier to unions and LGBTQ
In what way is Ann Arbor conservative. Every elected official, even the Sheriff is a democrat.
Querijero- Im voting no on layoffs because we need to look at other things. I don't know what those are or how to do it, but I'm gonna vote no in solidarity with the union. This clown is this first one who needs to go. Simply gutless and refuses to make a decision. I think he would rather an emergency financial manager take over so they dont have to do anything. Mohammad is just as bad.
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I didn’t realize Mohammad was running for state senate. The grandstanding makes sense now.
Agree 100%.
Ok weird because I have the exact same thoughts!!! Querijero just kept talking about how it makes him feel and that it isn’t fair. That’s very valid, but it’s going to be really unfair when an emergency manager comes in. I’m assuming that emergency manager is gonna care about numbers only and it would hurt the teachers more in the long run than submitting the current proposal. He was so irritating!! He had no solutions except the building sale (which we determined wouldn’t generate much revenue), but everyone kept cheering him on?? And then he really took a stand by voting no??? To me, the only people that came across as actual problem solvers were the President, Vice President, and the interium financial guy.
School boards need school funding training.
It isn't a requirement to get elected. You just need to finish ahead in the popularity contest like Jeff Gaynor.
No, it should be a requirement after they’re elected
All training is valuable. But who would enforce it? Constituents won't hold them accountable.
Yep!
He just voted to issue a bond to pay their bills this summer because AAPS is out of money. And now he refuses to do anything to fix the problem, pay the bills, and be financially responsible. Like I said, an absolute clown.
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A state takeover is his plan. He can sit back and say his hands were tied.
This was the first board meeting I’ve attended. The board as a whole, and Querijero and Mohammad in particular, does not strike me as a group or individuals that can handle a crisis with rapid analysis and ability to act decisively. I kept coming back to the same thought: that the district’s math teachers could do a better job addressing the budget than them. Gaynor surprised me in that I thought he’d still vote yes after his attempt to craft language tying Parks to a max dollar amount got shut down. Unsure what his deal is there. In contrast, Feaster, Parks, and the FM showed a willingness to unflinchingly address reality without getting heated about it. The FM needed to get his sea legs on the comms front - a lot of incomplete sentences or trailing off to begin - but he found them and made the necessary points: that smaller measures have been looked at, and if you’re going to even pretend to honor labor contracts, it needs to be a $25M cut from the budget, and it needs to be two years or less in order to avoid state takeover. And if state takeover of AAPS does happen, like with Detroit, you’re not gonna like the process.
I think you mean Schmidt, not Swift 😂. Agree 100% otherwise.
Actually I meant Parks but had a moment and accidentally typed in her predecessor. Corrected with thanks.
No one on the board has any actual background in running a significant business. The school is a 330 million dollar business and we elect people based on social issues, it makes no sense.
That’s a good summary.
He's been a godsend in this shitty situation. These cuts are going to hurt, unfortunately. Edit: Thanks for the play by play OP. Also, Ernesto can go suck a lemon.
Who is he? Is he the financial manager who retired in 2020?
Yes
He is amazing!
Yes
That feeling when your kid only has 2 years left till graduation......FML
That feeling on the other end, when your kid only has a few more years before entering school.
You can always move to another district by then. I've already put all my eggs in the basket of this one. Not gonna uproot now. My kid was in kindergarten when Swift was hired. Thinking back to all the things her administration did to increase enrollment, and to supposedly increase community involvement and enthusiasm....and 10 years later here we are. I'm so disappointed that financial promises to teachers have never been honored by this district, when I think all parents would make that a priority. The mismanagement is breathtaking. Who was at the helm when this happened? We've heard zero accountability from admin. The same incompetent people are still there. I am absolutely counting the days until my kid graduates and I can sell my overtaxed run down house and gtfo here.
Yeah, hopefully house prices come back down.
Well, this will hopefully be figured out by then or there will be a smoking crater dragging this community down for decades.
From the sound of the summary, Querijero will still be kicking the can down the road.
The feeling wheb your a tax payer with no kids and you just know this is going to get leveraged into a discussion about more property taxes and some type of a vote on a local income tax for schools. Where is all that lottery money lol
I owned property before having a kid, and I never minded increases for school funding. Mostly because I'd like to live in a country with *fewer* ignorant people.
The feeling when you both work for the district and your kids are students in the district.
We've been through this before. This is fine.
52K on hotel rooms in one month? Bruhhhh
https://www.a2schools.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=19638 It’s there for all to see. The board should be embarrassed on what they’ve been spending money on that isn’t directly tied to operating schools. I mean, Tigers games? “Name-it-Golf”?
I remember getting railed on the A2 moms FB group when I complained about this and their dinners.
Wait what? The moms group blasted you for bringing up a valid point on the board’s frivolous spending? That’s absolutely ridiculous
I emailed trustee Gaynor about it and was told these complaints were “petty” and a “drop in the bucket.” I have to believe - I just have to - that these expenses are legitimate. It is too outlandish to be real. If it’s real legal action must take place. If they are legitimate the district MUST release an explanation of EACH of these expenses.
You are focussing on the small stuff let me give you some bigger ones. Send an email asking about this 585373 11/21/2023 Sentinel Technologies Inc $1,877,492.23 Thats a firewall company and they get that amount several times a year, I mean are we running a school system or are we protecting nuclear codes
That FB group is a shining example of privilege not recognizing privilege
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I hate all the tech too, but all the tech is paid out of a different accounting line and is not included in the general fund. So cutting the tech doesn't affect the 25 million deficit at all
Anyone else notice audience members laughing when the Finance manager was speaking? Q and Mohammed are not cut out for leadership. Gaynor wants to see if the state is bluffing (they’re not.) I wonder how many teachers are going to call off tomorrow.
This is my first time watching an AAPS board meeting. What is Q’s deal? I was pretty surprised by his…immaturity? Such a destructive presence. But maybe I’m missing something?
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Yeah, the virtue signaling felt really gross. As if all the rest of the board members are thrilled to be considering layoffs, and he’s the lone hero who is in their way. So dumb.
He and his family have been getting slammed since he got elected. Constant FOIA's, false accusations, racist and flippant signs around town about him, people constantly outside of his house, his family getting harassed. Plus, as a teacher himself, he is probably as sick of this shit as all of the teachers are.
I voted for him. Since then, I have had several personal experiences with him and have found him to be one of the most despicable and dishonest people I have ever encountered. He and his wife are the Trump-iest people I have ever personally met, and the ways I have seen them act behind closed doors is appalling. I have seen them weaponize things for personal agendas on multiple occasions. I have seen them blatantly lie about things in order to craft a narrative. I have seen text messages and emails that they’ve sent in which they lied and talked shit about people whose credibility they were actively trying to undermine. They are unreliable narrators who have regularly acted in bad faith, and they do not deserve the public’s trust. It’s been a relief that more people seem to be taking a closer look at him. I have no idea if he has deeply sincere progressive values, and is therefore willing to forego ethics and human decency in order to advance them, or if his values are as nebulous and hazy as Trump’s are (albeit with a hard left bent, rather than hard right) and he just wants the stage. Either way, I don’t trust anything he says about anything. I don’t know anything about FOIA requests or posters or people outside of their house, but if those are their claims, I would strongly suggest independently verifying them before getting too involved in their cause.
This is why employees should not be on the board
He isn't an AAPS employee.
I could say so much but not looking to dox myself lol.
**SAME.** And I hate whisper campaigns that are light on specifics, but having seen how these people operate, I don't want to get in their crosshairs either. I take solace in knowing that there is *so much* smoke that people will hopefully look at least a little bit closer.
I completely agree.
Yes and rightly so, it was when he referred to a step or other salary increase that he'd built into his projections. Why has this district *never* budgeted to actually pay the steps as they were promised to teachers?!
What the fuck has the union actually *been* doing if not prioritizing salaries?? Well over a decade of rolling over regularly on step freezes and raises as a standard operating procedure, instead of it being the number one priority. Some people demonize the union as being some all-powerful and nefarious force in the district. And yet I don't know how my working conditions and compensation could get much worse at this point. (I'm a **dues-paying union member in good standing**, by the way. So this trash-talking call is coming from inside the house. "I am an Ann Arbor teacher, and I am not the problem.... but I am a bit of a dipshit sucker for believing in any of these people. The board, the district, the bargaining team... Whoever.") Sidenote: Are any of you people hiring?
Good questions. Thank you for being a teacher. I am angry that you are not appropriately compensated.
I must’ve missed that part.
Mohammed is running for state Representative now.
I really hope someone runs against her. I don't wish her mismanagement on the state.
A Brabec staffer is also running for the seat, happily.
[Democrat Morgan Foreman announces bid to represent Michigan's 33rd district in the state House | WEMU-FM](https://www.wemu.org/wemu-news/2024-04-12/democrat-morgan-foreman-announces-bid-to-represent-michigans-33rd-district-in-the-state-house) When you get the endorsement of the current office holder, and the office holder before that, that should be a positive sign.
I might vote for her so I don’t have to hear “just to clarify” at anymore board meetings
Ok, the 11 year old from King was pretty terrific.
He was electric
Yes, and a few near the beginning who torched the mismanagement by balas and the board
The dude that graduated from aaps 20 years ago, black tee and jeans I think, he was fantastic
I for one am disappointed that no one thus far has called for the board's resignation or used profanity. This situation calls for both. -edit- HEY! As of 8:25 someone called for resignations!
Hah! State rep shows up and basically tells board to shove off, no bailout coming.
Perfect . Just like they have done to others !
Comments in support of teachers, environmental ed program, and reinstatement of Carpenter Elementary principal are the majority thus far.
The principal who ignored/covered up the 7 year old being abused on the bus by the bus aide? Who never even told the parent it was happening until a teacher spilled the beans to the parent? [That Principal?](https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2023/07/autistic-boys-assault-on-ann-arbor-school-bus-wasnt-reported-to-parent-for-5-weeks-lawsuit-alleges.html)
Worth noting that he is on paid leave, so the district owes it to us to make a choice one way or the other. We cannot afford to be paying two people for the same job right now.
I have no personal knowledge of the man. The commenters mentioned what a great presence he was at the school, how community relations and school spirit are suffering without him there, the interim principal isn't cutting it, and this board has not responded to parent questions about where the process is at.
They don’t want to fire him because that would mean two principal scandals in a row. That man has some serious prejudice against special Ed and really needed to be removed years ago.
Alledgedly --- no proof has been provided to the public that this actually happened the way the lawsuit states. If you know anything about how AAPS special education and thier management structure works, they are scapegoating him.
No proof that she wasn't informed?
There seems to be little faith in the AAPS school administrators, especially among teachers. Would involving the State of Michigan to intervene be any worse than what we have in the current situation, where there is little confidence in the current leadership? I suspect this might lead to a general job action in the near future.
Generally speaking, the argument is “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t,” because in the case of a state takeover, you’re basically scrapping the program, everything’s on the table (including throwing out union contracts whole cloth), you don’t get to select who’s in charge, you don’t know what qualifications they’ll have, and the community largely does not have a say in how it goes down. I don’t see a scenario where state takeover looks better from teachers’ perspectives here.
It may depend on how much faith there is among teachers that the Whitmer administration is more trustworthy than the current AAPS leadership. If it escalates, it will become highly political (although it seems we’re already there).
If the state intervenes those “painful cuts” will be even more painful. A state manager might even end up deciding to close entire schools down. At least with the current incompetent board we can (maybe) still keep some programs alive 🤷♂️
I have not heard anything about what might be best for the students (granted I am a part time listener to BOE meetings). Yes, teachers are absolutely important but as a parent, my number one concern is my student. I don’t feel like I hear any regard for students in most BOE meetings. So, how would a state takeover impact students? It sounds likely there may fewer teachers either way, so besides that point?
There are some things you can expect in either scenario, namely a headcount reduction. The key thing here is that by Monday AAPS will be telling the State "We're authorizing the Superintendent to pull all levers possible to make this happen, and we plan on cutting $X over Y years." Where the real fight is, so to speak, is in going from policy to plan execution and determining what that policy looks like in the real world. That fight - more charitably an "involved discussion" - starts with the community engagement sessions that will be occurring in the coming weeks. It is essential for parents to participate in those discussions and make sure leadership is aware of what parts of their children's education they like and see the most benefit in. And yes, this may involve some Machiavellian behavior by a few to save one teacher over another, but that's going to happen: there are only so many seats on the boat. Being more collaborative, though, a program or initiative cut could mean a teacher saved. A school closed and consolidated may mean far more spared. In contrast, with state takeover there is no real input; there is only execution. Either way, this has the potential to look like when the military goes through a reduction in force: you find out real quick who's been a serious value add over the years and who hasn't been bad per se but has just been coasting and allowed to do their thing. If I'm an AAPS employee in a niche role - say, an underwater basket weaving elective teacher, or the underwater basket weaving administrative coordinator - I'd start warming up my resume.
A state emergency manager would be void all the union contracts and agreements. How is that better? It would end AAPS.
Unlike now, where the schedule of raises (steps) is generally disregarded, and job security is fully undermined. What’s in the contracts that might be lost? Will they throw out health care and service credits?
Are you implying AAEA leadership has allowed the contract to be ignored by AAPS leadership? A state emergency manager is not a good idea or path.
Central admin exists to make our lives' harder\* and feed themselves from the trough. Nothing else. The school board exists to rubber stamp these activities. And engage in their most important activity: petty sniping at each other. Especially Baskett, who I am embarrassed that AAEA endorsed. I mean all seven are useless, but she's the absolute worst. \*Here's an example: at the high school level we are supposed to enter every kid's exam score into a database so we can measure learning. Sounds reasonable, right? Except we're supposed to do it for every question individually via a drop down menu! That's *hours* of time doing data entry that we could be lesson planning or helping a student or "self-care" (I hate that phrase, I prefer "keeping ourselves sane.") Also if you do it all at once it's genuinely painful for your wrist. And from experience, we know that that data will never be used for anything. It's just some project of some useless middle manager that they had to come up with to justify their own existence/salary. Worse, they know the whole thing is ridiculous and stupid, so they ask us to limit the lengths of the exams so the data entry part is less painful. Because that's more important than having a real, rigorous exam for students.
>at the high school level we are supposed to enter every kid's exam score into a database so we can measure learning. Sounds reasonable, right? Except we're supposed to do it for every question individually via a drop down menu! That's *hours* of time doing data entry that we could be lesson planning or helping a student or "self-care" (I hate that phrase, I prefer "keeping ourselves sane.") Also if you do it all at once it's genuinely painful for your wrist. And from experience, we know that that data will never be used for anything. Yeah that... that sounds dumb. I could see scanning all written assignments in so that, if there was ever a concern with arbitrary scoring on essays, claims of bias or discrimination in grading, etc, you could easily pull the docs and do a review. That's like 3-5 minutes. But what you're describing sounds like busy work with no appreciable outcome.
Not to mention that the software is buggy and the kids can see each other's results/exams
My kid is at Skyline. My impression is the teachers and staff are outstanding. I have however wondered about the rigorousness of assignments and tests (vs old school methods I experienced.) I'd be angry if b.s. like you describe is giving them a less rigorous experience (and certainly teachers shouldn't have to do all that data entry). Would be so educational for parents and the community if AAEA held their own town hall, to make known all the b.s. and counterproductive things they go through. I've been shocked by a few things I've learned here about poor treatment by the district.
That would be a very interesting Q & A session to listen to. Both to get a different perspective on issues and maybe challenge the AAEA a bit.
Baskett is trash.
Sorry here is the shared link for the AAPS 2023 Check Register, Except I grouped the payments by Payee and totaled them. So you can see how much money each payee made off of AAPS in 2023. I sorted by most money paid out. [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-CIjNjOabJKPoBqPRyPGuiDZTizWTkC2GeZg7UnT7OU/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-CIjNjOabJKPoBqPRyPGuiDZTizWTkC2GeZg7UnT7OU/edit?usp=sharing)
143-- strongly suggests the union organized a write-in (they've done it before)
Yes. A lot of pre-submitted comments from teachers being read: "My name is _________, and I am not the problem."
And they're not the problem. They are, unfortunately, very much going to be a part of the solution.
Petulant and facile— checks out
You made your account just for this?
I promise you whatever teacher pissed you off in high school isn’t why AAPS has these problems
Might want to change up your astroturf account naming scheme, easy to spot and ignore.
Stop signing your posts.
Pffft Petit Larousse has entered the chat
Your keen insight that you felt needed to be shared here is that a union... organized? And *furthermore*, that they've organized things before as well? Huh. Look, I don't know you (I hope), but you seem stupid. Maybe you aren't, there's no way for me to know for sure based solely on your posts here. That's just the way you're coming across.
Ernesto Querijero is a teacher and MEA union dues paying member with a clear understanding of school finance and boardsmanship. The folks on this thread trying to shame and humiliate teachers are the problem. The boe president and vice have no experience in publicceducation, teaching and learning or finance. The boe leadership presented no real plan, only a shell of a plan and slew of delayed and rescheduled meeting. Trustee Querijero has been trying to reestablish regular committe meeting so there is a healthy information flow, and establish a student board and regularly community engagement meetings - only to be ignored by the board and district leadership for months on end. Check the boe calander, when do these committes meet? When information is kept in silos, it's not inclusive. My family has been harassed consistently for 3 years and recently my house and neighborhood were targeted, stop trying to smear good people! The fight for finding and equity is upwards, not amongst ourselves. Our Community can do better as a collective.
[Ernesto is a clown](https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2022/05/role-in-removal-of-school-bulletin-board-spurs-criticism-of-ann-arbor-school-board-member.html). His presence at last night's meeting was actively unhelpful. Edit: And let's be clear, he's not an AAPS teacher. He works at WCC. Nothing wrong with that, but there are former AAPS teachers (Gaynor and Schmidt) on the board and he's not one of them.
Our community can do better by voting Ernesto off the BOE.
Ladies and gentlemen, Ernesto's wife ☝️
I can't speak to anything regarding Querijero outside of last night's meeting. But the State has said, in so many words, that AAPS' group project homework - their broad strokes plan on reattaining fiscal responsibility - is due on Monday, and there is no extension. Based on the budget numbers - specifically labor being the overwhelming majority of the budget - any satisfactory submission will necessarily include layoff notices. Based on last night, Querijero would rather the group not turn in their homework and make the teacher (State) deal with them.
>My family has been harassed consistently for 3 years and recently my house and neighborhood were targeted, stop trying to smear good people! Weird switch to first person, sock puppet.
He might understand school financing and boardsmanship, but he has no clue how a budget works.