Ann Arbor board hears $20.4 million recovery plan; trustees schedule special meeting amid public outcry

The Ann Arbor Public Schools Board on May 15 heard a comprehensive budget plan from interim Superintendent Jazz Parks that recommends about $20.4 million in reductions to address a projected shortfall for fiscal 2024‑25.

Parks told trustees the district faces three structural pressures — declining enrollment, higher operating costs and more staff — and presented a package that attempts to limit harm to core student programs while producing planned savings. "We have tried to keep reductions as far away from the student experience as possible," Parks said, summarizing the guiding principles behind the recommendations.

Key elements of the plan include moving Project Lead the Way (PLTW) into the elementary specials rotation so students keep five electives while trimming some FTE (estimated efficiency: about $1.2 million); eliminating elementary world language outside of International Baccalaureate (IB) elementary schools (estimated savings: about $400,000); reducing some co‑teacher allocations in high‑school band and orchestra programs (about $222,000); consolidating IB coordinator roles at the elementary level (about $525,000); closing or reducing some…