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Ann Arbor Public Schools board approves revised three-year contract for Superintendent Jazz Parks
Summary
After public criticism over transparency and questions raised by the Plant Moran report, the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board approved a three-year contract for Superintendent Jazz Parks with changes tying future raises to other employee groups and reducing the annual increase and term.
The Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education voted 6-0 on June 26 to approve a revised three-year contract for Superintendent Jazz Parks after trustees and counsel negotiated several changes in response to public comment and trustee concerns.
Trustees moved quickly from public comment into board action. President Feaster moved to adopt the resolution on the superintendent's administrative contract; Trustee Schmidt seconded and the board approved the measure on a 6-0 roll-call vote.
The board's attorney, Mr. Komsa, read changes that the superintendent and her counsel had agreed to and entered into the public record. He said the contract will begin July 1, 2025, and "for the term of this agreement commencing 07/01/2025, and each July 1 thereafter, the superintendent shall receive an increase in her then effect base salary commensurate with the increases received by other employee groups." Komsa also said the first year salary is unchanged, the prior rolling four-year term was reduced to three years, and an originally proposed 3% annual increase was lowered to 1.5%.
Those adjustments addressed several themes raised during the public-comment period, when parents, teachers and community members urged the board to tie any superintendent pay increases to the same cycles and percentages received by teachers and other student-facing staff. "If they get a 1.5% raise, so should she," Becca Hogan wrote in comments read by staff. Other commenters criticized the timing and transparency of the contract packet and asked for a longer review period before a vote.
President Feaster responded directly to public remarks about the Plant Moran review, saying the report "did not find culpability on behalf of Miss Parks," and noting that written public comments are posted on BoardDocs. Trustees spoke in the meeting about communication gaps during the negotiation process; Trustee Gannon said the additional time to finish negotiations should have come earlier, and Trustee Carriello and others thanked counsel and the superintendent for reaching an agreement.
The board's formal action did not include salary-dollar specifics in the public reading beyond the formula tying increases to other employee groups, the reduction of the automatic annual increase and the shortened term. The resolution in the board packet carries the details of the contract and will be reflected in the public record pursuant to the board attorney's reading.
The motion to adopt the contract was approved by roll call: Vice President Dupree, Trustee Schmidt, Trustee Carahara, Trustee Mohammed, President Feaster and Trustee Gannon voted yes. The meeting adjourned at 7:27 p.m.
The board did not take separate votes on other personnel actions at this special meeting. Written public comments and the final contract language were noted as available on the district's BoardDocs site.
