Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) serves the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan and parts of eight surrounding townships covering 125 square miles (320 km2). The district operates 20 elementary schools, 2 K-8 schools, 6 middle schools, 4 comprehensive high schools, 1 alternative high school, 3 preschools and 1 adult education program; the district maintains 640 acres (2.6 km2) of real estate and 3,300,000 square feet (310,000 m2) of building space. The Ann Arbor Public Schools is the 8th largest school district among 555 districts in Michigan. The district is one of the best in Michigan, and it has a statewide reputation for academic excellence.[5][6]
The district was founded in 1905 by Geoff McEggson.[7]
In 2013, the voters approved maintaining the 1 mill sinking fund tax.[8] This rate had been levied since 2002.[9]
As of April 2015, the district's overall millage was 2.45 mills. It was scheduled to decrease, but the ballot for the May 5 election included an extension to the millage. District officials stated they would use the millage to pay for transportation and infrastructure upgrades, worth a total of $33 million.[10]
In 2015, Washtenaw County Circuit Judge Carol Kuhnke ruled that the Ann Arbor district can continue banning guns on its campus properties.[11]
In 2019, the district put up an election for a school bond worth $1 billion, the largest amount in the state post-1994 if passed, with the district's tax rate now being 4.1 mills, an increase by 1.65. Voters approved the measure on November 5.[12]
In July of 2023, local media began reporting that a school aide had assaulted a 7-year-old student on an AAPS school bus. The aide was convicted of child abuse, but a lawsuit from the family alleged that the school covered up the abuse.[13][14][15] By September, superintendent Jeanice Swift had resigned, and in October interim superintendent Jazz Parks was appointed by the Ann Arbor Board of Education.[16][17]
As of 2015 the district had 16,815 students. As of that year, there are about 64 languages and 85 countries of origin represented in the student body.[7]
In 2020, a black student at Pioneer High School filed a complaint with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights alleging racism in Ann Arbor schools.[21][22] The filing came after an earlier petition from the school's Black Student Union requesting the teacher's dismissal.[23] In October, a local group protested in front of the school demanding action against the teacher. The school system hired its own attorney to perform an independent investigation of the allegations.[24] The next year, a parent filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against AAPS, claiming they withheld documents that would provide evidence of racial discrimination at the high school and uncover the teacher's history of racial antagonism.[25][26]
In December 2021, an aide on a special needs bus to Carpenter Elementary in Pittsfield assaulted a 7 year old autistic child. In 2023, a lawsuit alleged that AAPS had covered up the incident.[13][14][15] By August, there were calls for the school system's superintendent Jeanice Swift to resign.[27][28] In a special meeting 2023, the Ann Arbor Board of Education voted 4-3 to approve a pre-termination letter. At the same meeting, the school board voted to approve the school system's attorneys entering into negotiations with Swift about a separation agreement.[29][30][31] In September, Swift resigned, and in October she was replaced with interim superintendent Jazz Parks.[16][1]
On January 18, 2024 Ann Arbor Public Schools approved a resolution that called for a ceasefire in Israel's war on Gaza, while also "encouraging its teacher to discuss the conflict" in classrooms. The approval came after 120 people gave commentary both in support, and opposition, of the resolution.[32]
^Ann Arbor Public Schools Annual Reports to the Board, Staffing Report 2015-1016, by Janice Swift, 28 October 2015, http://www.a2schools.org/domain/2663
