Ann Arbor parents, teachers press board over layoffs and demand transparency

Dozens of parents, teachers and union representatives used the board's public-comment period to urge the Ann Arbor Public Schools board to reverse or reduce recent layoff notices and to push for clearer, building-level transparency about which positions will be affected.

At the meeting, Assistant Superintendent Langford described the district's two-part layoff process and the criteria used to determine which staff received notices. "We did not send out 94 layoff notices... Attrition was part of that as well," Langford said, and she explained that the district first considered effectiveness ratings, then certain disciplinary markers and certifications, and finally seniority and required certifications when making layoff determinations. Langford also said 51 employees had taken the voluntary severance option and that 56 layoff notices had been issued thus far.

Community speakers, including classroom teachers and parents, called the process unfair and urged the board to cut administrative costs rather than student-facing roles. "Our community has asked again and again, what can we do? You can ask them to host exchange students... this idea could bring in almost half $1,000,000 of revenue this fall," said Sarah Andrew Vaughn, a Scarlet Middle School teacher and parent, proposing alternative revenue strategies. Other speakers asked for demographically broken-down headcounts and for a report that shows layoffs and shifts by school and subject so trustees and the public can assess equity across Title I and non-Title I schools.

Trustees and staff exchanged questions about confidentiality and identifiability. Board members pressed for non-identifying, school-level summaries, and several trustees moved and passed a directive asking the superintendent to prepare a sensitive report showing counts of affected positions by school, by department and central-office cuts that would not expose individual employees.

Langford said surplus and shift notices were being issued to administrators and that the district was looking at ways to recall teachers into open certified positions (for example, matching teachers with special-education certifications to openings) before resorting to new hires. "The recall list will be in order of last laid off first recalled," Langford said, adding that certifications and qualifications would shape recall decisions.

The board did not reverse the layoffs at the meeting. Trustees asked staff to deliver the requested, non-identifying staffing-impact report and to continue regular updates on recalls and shifts over the summer. The district also noted it would continue to explore voluntary moves, retirements and reassignments that could reduce the net number of layoffs.