Ann Arbor board faces surge of public protest as staff explain involuntary transfers used to fill special‑education openings

Ann Arbor — Dozens of parents, students and former pupils urged the Ann Arbor Public Schools board on July 24 to reverse a wave of involuntary teacher reassignments, saying the moves threaten community schools and could drive families and staff away.

A wave of public commentary centered on roughly 10 teachers the district said it reassigned into special‑education roles this summer. “He is Pioneer High School,” said Joe O’Connell, a teacher and neighbor of the high‑school instructor who faces transfer, referring to William “Bill” Bellers. Several speakers said they had filed petitions and gathered hundreds of signatures asking the board to return specific teachers to their prior schools.

Why the transfers happened: district explanation

District HR staff told the board that the transfers were used to fill remaining special‑education openings after attrition and position changes. HR said about 16 special‑education positions emerged at the end of the year for various reasons; of those, the special‑education team concluded 6.1 FTE were not needed and 10 positions still required filling. To avoid hiring externally, the district used involuntary transfers of teachers with appropriate certifications and experience so it could recall the maximum number of colleagues from layoff.

“Because of those moves we were able to recall 34 of the 55 teachers who had layoff notices rather than having to hire…