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Ann Arbor superintendent highlights suicide‑prevention outreach, staffing and health‑care cost concerns
Summary
Superintendent Jazz Parks told the board Sept. 17 that September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and outlined weekly district messaging and a new student‑support advisory committee; she also flagged rising health‑care costs and daily hiring activity across the district.
Superintendent Jazz Parks told the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education on Sept. 17 that the district will mark Suicide Prevention Awareness Month with weekly district updates and an online resource page for students, families and staff. "This month, September, is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month," Parks said, emphasizing the district’s role in stigma reduction and early-warning recognition.
Parks said the district has convened a new student support advisory committee composed of staff, students, parents, caregivers and community partners; the committee will meet Sept. 18 to develop an action plan intended to identify inequities in disciplinary outcomes and reduce disproportionate suspensions among Black students, male students, students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students.
On staffing, Parks said the district continues a steady hiring cadence for paraprofessionals, ancillary staff and classroom teachers and is interviewing and making recommendations daily. "We continue to fill our vacant and open positions across the district," she said.
Parks also warned trustees that the district has been notified of another increase to health‑care costs. She said she has directed the district’s bargaining team to work collaboratively with employee groups to seek sustainable approaches that balance rising benefit costs while maintaining instruction and programming. "Together, we need to find some sustainable solutions that balance the rising cost of health care while continuing to support our dedicated staff," Parks said.
Other districtwide outreach noted in Parks’s report included recognition of IT staff for National IT Professionals Day and a community flu‑vaccination clinic planned for Oct. 6 at Pioneer High School. Parks named paraeducator Percy Brown as the recipient of the Michigan Education Association’s Leon A. Bruner Award, citing his 45 years of service and leadership in education‑service professional roles.
The superintendent said the district will provide further updates at upcoming meetings and that the 2024–25 capital‑programs annual report is undergoing audit before being issued to trustees.
