Ypsilanti school board, parents disagree on purpose of town hall meeting

Several Ypsilanti school board members came to a district-sponsored town hall meeting Tuesday night hoping to hear creative ideas about how to solve the district's budget problems.

But many of the more than 60 parents who showed up were expecting a chance to grill administrators about proposals that include shuttering at least one, and maybe two, elementary schools.

The disconnect in the purpose of Tuesday's meeting was evident the minute board President David Bates got done welcoming the crowd. Parent Maria Cotera, who is helping lead the Ypsilanti Public Schools Alliance, immediately criticized the format of the evening, which had the board sitting on the stage of the high school’s auditorium along with Superintendent Dedrick Martin.

Ypsilanti Superintendent Dedrick Martin

“It’s the central office administration’s job to justify their plan to you and to us,” she said, adding it’s not the role of the board to answer questions about the administration’s plans.

Those plans include two options for reconfiguring the district. One option calls for closing and repurposing two elementary schools. The other includes closing and repurposing one elementary school.

Ypsilanti is currently operating under a state-mandated deficit elimination plan that requires chopping millions of dollars from the budget over the course of the next several years.

After several more parents spoke - some expressing concern about the meeting, others suggesting ideas like increasing the district’s marketing to attract more students - board Trustee Andy Fanta suggested that neither the parents nor the board members came to the meeting to discuss the right topic.

“I think the format tonight is wrong. I think the subject is wrong," he said. "This is putting the cart before the horse. We don’t even have a clue. This is an ill-conceived forum.”

Fanta added the board and parents needed to talk first about what kind of district Ypsilanti wants to be, then fit the budget discussion around that.

The budget plan will be presented to the school board in early March, with a vote taken in late March, Martin said.

“The reality is, we’re in a situation where we can not afford some luxuries," Martin said. "I do think we need to grow our way out of this. Unfortunately, (right now) we have to reduce and right size the ship. It’s not a death sentence.”

David Jesse covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidjesse@annarbor.com or at 734-623-2534.