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Ann Arbor school board votes 4-3 to advance New Thurston plan after hours of public comment
Summary
After nearly two hours of public commentary and extended trustee debate, the Ann Arbor Public Schools board voted 4-3 to move forward with the New Thurston Elementary School as currently designed, rejecting a motion to table further review.
The Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education voted 4-3 on March 5 to move forward with the construction of the New Thurston Elementary School as currently designed, following an extended public-comment period in which hundreds of residents pressed the board to pause the project and consider staging or alternative sites.
Trustee Michael Baskett moved the motion to advance the Thurston project "as currently designed," and Trustee Schmidt supported the motion. After more than two hours of public testimony, extensive questioning of capital-project staff, and an unsuccessful bid to table the decision, the board approved the motion with a 4-3 roll call (Yes: Schmidt, Baskett, Wilks, Feaster; No: Wilkerson, Wilkins, Mohammed).
The public-comment period featured repeated pleas from Thurston parents, alumni, teachers and neighborhood residents to protect the Thurston Nature…
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