Ann Arbor residents urge board to protect Thurston Nature Center as trustees press bond committee for answers

Dozens of residents and volunteers urged the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education to slow work on the Thurston Elementary site plan, saying the current design would remove vital habitat and disrupt the district’s long-standing nature-education site.

"The Thurston Nature Center is one of the country's first educational environmental spaces connected to a school," Praveena Ramaswamy, chair of the Thurston Nature Center Committee, told the board. "We are for the students and for the trees and the bees and the native plants and the wildlife." (Praveena Ramaswamy)

Multiple public commenters described lost prairie, rain gardens and an oak savanna in the proposed footprint and said the plan would replace much open green space with pavement, increase light and noise pollution near the pond, and place student activity areas closer to moving cars. Speakers said the community has gathered more than 600 petition signatures opposing the current plans and asked the board to reconsider staging or alternate siting to preserve habitat and student access to outdoor learning.

Board members responded with a mix of sympathy and procedural caution. Trustee Gainer said the purpose of the added agenda item was to clarify community concerns and to ask staff and the construction team for more specific information. Trustee Mohammed urged that the full board — not just the bond committee — consider whether to revisit the multi-year bond plan in light of new administration, enrollment and budget changes.

"We need more evidence and expert review on the environmental impacts," Trustee Gainer said, and added that the capital team and Gilbane are preparing a formal response and FAQs for distribution in the next few days.

Trustees proposed several next steps: ask the bond committee and capital programs staff to collate community feedback and technical evidence, invite Thurston community members and subject-matter experts to present at the bond committee meeting, and clarify whether staging (building at another site and moving students temporarily) was feasible and what the timeline impact would be. Trustees noted that staging can add time and cost but said the trade-offs deserved examination.

Administration confirmed it will work with the bond committee and capital programs team to produce FAQs and more direct engagement opportunities. "We are continuing to not only listen to the feedback tonight, but that we've received in the preceding days," Superintendent Parks said and promised to communicate next steps once determined in collaboration with the bond committee and capital programs team. (Superintendent Parks)

The board did not take any formal action to change the bond project at the meeting; trustees generally agreed to allow the bond committee to gather and present additional information and to return the issue to the full board if substantive changes are recommended.

What happens next: the bond committee meets next on Oct. 15, and trustees suggested that committee receive community presentations and technical analyses before the district finalizes construction sequencing or site changes.