File photo of Robert Czachorski of OHM Advisors, the consultant that the city hired to conduct a study of flows in the sanitary sewer system during wet weather. The photo was taken by The Chronicle at the Feb. 13, 2014 meeting of the citizens advisory committee. No police officers attended that meeting.

According to sources at the meeting, the two officers sat at the back of the room for the duration of the meeting.

Part of the backdrop to March 20 included the removal of a resident from the committee on the day before the meeting. The series of events leading up to the expulsion included several email exchanges dating from a Feb. 13 meeting of the committee, when the group reviewed “group norms” for committee work.

Occasionally, AAPD officers will attend Ann Arbor city council meetings. So it’s not unprecedented for the AAPD to have a presence at a public meeting.

Still, in The Chronicle’s five years of covering Ann Arbor government, a police presence at a citizens advisory committee meeting counts as unusual.

To get additional insight into the issue, The Chronicle sent city administrator Steve Powers some questions about the tasking of the two police officers for the March 20 CAC meeting. More background and the answers from Powers are included below.

Background: Expulsion from the Committee

The discussion of group norms for the CAC came roughly six months after the committee had begun its work. The project is supposed to conclude in summer 2014. Among the norms the group reviewed on Feb. 13 was this: “Don’t use bolds or CAPS in Basecamp – perceived as screaming and disrespectful.” [Basecamp is a project management software system that is accessible only to members of the CAC and the rest of the project team.]

The norms included other items like: “Treat each other with dignity and respect;” “The discussion of issues, ideas, and direction will not bring about a personal attack and return to haunt someone in the future;” and “Project team members (consultants/city staff) will be accountable and responsible to the CAC.”

Discussion of the group norms included a process for dealing with perceived violations of the norms. That process included an initial step – which is revocation of Basecamp access. That could be followed by removal from the committee. And those steps were followed, resulting in the March 19 removal of one of the CAC members, Frank Burdick. From the letter sent by OHM Advisors, signed by Robert Czachorski, announcing the expulsion:

We were especially concerned about the frequency and content of the phone calls you made to me, your antagonistic and disrespectful response to a courteous request to participate in the Community Values ranking exercise sent to CAC members by the project team, and your request to terminate direct communications with the CAC facilitator.

The Chronicle has been cc-ed or bcc-ed on considerable email traffic dating from late last year, and has attended some of the committee’s meetings. Burdick has actively participated in the substance of the committee’s work since August 2013. Over the course of late 2013 and early 2014, he contributed several dozen questions to the project log maintained by the project team. Eventually, the Basecamp project management system was set up – in part it appears – as a way to handle the volume of questions and issues that were raised. Based on emailed correspondence, it’s fair to say that friction developed between Burdick and the project team over the course of the project. Burdick is now continuing to contribute input to the project – which is expected to conclude sometime in summer 2014 – by communicating to other members of the CAC, city staff and councilmembers.

For at least some purposes, the CAC appears to be considered a creature of the city government – inasmuch as assistant city attorney Abigail Elias has described committee members as engaging in a “quintessentially governmental function.” On the other hand, the committee was not formally established by the city council, and its membership appears to be determined by the city’s contractors on the project.

The sanitary sewer wet weather evaluation study has been undertaken in the context of pending litigation on the legal foundations of the city’s footing drain disconnection ordinance. A lawsuit was filed earlier this month: “Lawsuit Filed on City Footing Drain Program.” For additional Chronicle coverage, see: “Backups: Lawyers, Sewers, Pumps”

Questions & Answers

The Chronicle sent questions (in bold) to city administrator Steve Powers. Responses from Powers are below in regular typeface.

Why were two AAPD officers tasked with attending the March 20 CAC meeting?

The Police Department received information that there may potentially be disruptive behavior. The AAPD has assigned police officers to different public meeting in the past.

Editor’s note: It’s conceivable that an email – sent by the expelled committee member to the project facilitator, Charlie Fleetham of Project Innovations on March 11 – was interpreted as possibly indicating a potential for meeting disruption on March 20. The message included a link to an MLive article out of Bridgeport Township near Saginaw and a question: “Look familiar?” The article reported how a man was arrested at a meeting of a township board for exceeding his three-minute time limit. When The Chronicle spoke with the expelled committee member in a telephone interview, he stated: “It was not my intent to disrupt the meeting [on March 20]. I had prepared a written statement to read, but when I saw the police officers there I felt intimidated and decided not to read it.”

Who made that particular operational decision? Who typically makes that kind of operational decision?

Chief [John] Seto was aware of the information and was the one who made the decision to assign officers to this meeting. The Chief of Police or a Deputy Chief will generally make that decision.

Is there a general policy on AAPD staffing of public meetings, or is this a judgment call on a case-by-case basis?

There is no general policy and it depends on many factors to include information available to the police.

Were the officers who attended the March 20 CAC meeting working a regular shift or were they called in for overtime?

Regular shift.

Is the CAC considered to be a “city committee”?

Over the past several years, the City has recognized the value and benefit added to projects, plans and programs by the use of community engagement, including the utilization of various advisory groups, such as advisory committees, focus groups, one-on-one interviews, resource persons and the community at-large through public meetings. These advisory groups are established by staff and/or project consultants.

These project-established advisory groups have been utilized for several projects, including the Urban & Community Forest Management Plan, the Springwater Subdivision Improvements Project, and the Ann Arbor Station Project. For the Sanitary Sewer Wet Weather Evaluation project, when City Council approved the professional services agreement with OHM to perform the Sanitary Sewer System Flow Monitoring and Wet Weather Evaluation Project (Resolution R-13-035), the recommendation included OHM performing extensive public engagement through the entire project, including a citizen advisory committee.

Was the decision to remove a member from the CAC ultimately made by the city administrator?

No.

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Ann Arbor Public Schools trustee Glenn Nelson. (Photos by the writer.)

The biology textbook adoption for the district’s high schools was priced at $117,441. The district expects 1,391 students to be enrolled in biology courses this fall – in five different high schools. The purchase includes bound copies of traditional textbooks, as well as an interactive reader and access to an online edition.

A contract for physical, occupational therapy services – provided to Ann Arbor Public School district students with disabilities – was also given approval by the trustees. The contract is with Pediatric Therapy Associates and totals $528,360 for the 2012-2013 year. It includes 120 hours weekly for physical therapy and 135 hours weekly for occupational therapy, at an hourly rate of pay of $56.

The board was also briefed on the selection of an auditor for the coming year and the financial institutions that the district can do business with.

Public commentary included a call to leave three police liaison positions unfunded. They were left unfunded in this year’s budget, and the call was to leave those positions out of the budget in future years as well. The argument for that was based on the idea of better learning in environments without police presence.

Biology Textbook

The board was asked to approve  “Biology” by Stephen Nowicki as the new biology textbook for Ann Arbor high school students. Cost of the textbooks is $117,441 for the  1,391 students who will be enrolled in biology courses this fall – in five different high schools. The purchase includes bound copies of traditional textbooks as well as an interactive reader and access to an online edition.

Reasons for adopting a new textbook include the fact that the current textbook has been in use for the past 11 years. Content on biotechnology and genetics is outdated, and the text does not address the essential content on stem cells and differentiation. The current text also lacks online materials, text access, and virtual labs and simulations that are currently available with many textbook programs. In addition, the current text is written at a lexile level that is more consistent with the reading skills of most 10th grade students – and the AAPS district teaches biology in the 9th grade.

Outcome: The board approved the new biology text book as a part of the consent agenda, without further discussion – having already discussed the item when it was briefed at the Aug. 1, 2012 board meeting.

Pediatric Therapy Contract

The board was asked to approve a contract for physical, occupational therapy services – provided to Ann Arbor Public School district students with disabilities. The contract is with Pediatric Therapy Associates and totals $528,360 for the coming year – 2012-13. It includes 120 hours weekly for physical therapy and 135 hours weekly for occupational therapy, at an hourly rate of pay of $56.

Compared to the cost of hiring therapists to work as AAPS employees, the district’s analysis is that it would cost at least $724,757 (if therapists were hired in at the lowest step of the teachers contract) including fringe benefits or as much as $1,300,915 (if therapists were hired in at step 10 of the master level)

At the board’s first briefing on the item, given at its Aug. 1 meeting, AAPS superintendent Patricia Green noted that for the upcoming year, AAPS no longer must use 15% of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Flowthrough Grant to support significant disproportionality. Therefore, the grant money allocations have been revised to pay for the total amount of the Pediatric Therapy contract, instead of having to support the contract from general budget funds.

Funds under the IDEA are provided to school districts on an entitlement basis for services to children with disabilities.

Outcome: The board approved the contract for physical and occupational therapists as a part of the consent agenda, without further discussion– having already discussed the item when it was briefed at the Aug. 1, 2012

Financial Topics

The board was briefed on two areas of finance at the meeting  – the appointment of an auditor for the fiscal year 2011-12 and the list of qualified financial institutions for fiscal year 2012-13.

Financial Topics: Auditor Selection

The board was presented with the recommendation to approve the designation of the auditor Plante & Moran to conduct the district’s financial audit for the previous fiscal year – 2011-12. The district’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. Auditors would begin their work in September 2012 and conclude by mid-October 2012. The board would receive the auditor’s report in early November.

The audit will cost about $53,800 plus reasonable expenses. Last year, the base fee was $58,100. The district will be looking to bid out the auditing work again after this year’s audit is complete. Deputy superintendent for operations Robert Allen indicated that the goal of bidding out the auditing work some time during the fiscal year 2011-12, before this year’s contract award, had not been met.

When trustee Susan Baskett asked why the fee had dropped from last year, Allen stated that he had negotiated for a better rate.

Outcome: This was a first briefing item. It will be returned to the board for additional review and comment before being voted on at the next regular meeting.

Financial Topics: Financial Institutions Approval

A list of a dozen different financial institutions for fiscal year 2012-13 was presented to the trustees as compliant with the district’s investment policies.

Those institutions are Bank of America (Troy), Bank of Ann Arbor (Ann Arbor), Citizens Bank (Ann Arbor), Comerica Bank (Ann Arbor), Fifth Third Bank (Southfield), Flagstar Bank (Troy), JP Morgan Chase (Ann Arbor), MBIA of Ann Arbor (Ann Arbor), Michigan Commerce Bank (Ann Arbor), Michigan Liquid Asset Fund (Ronkonkoma, New York) TCF Bank (Ann Arbor) United Bank & Trust (Ann Arbor).

Deputy superintendent for operations Robert Allen stated that all 12 financial institutions have provided the requested information the district requires, in accordance with board policy and the accompanying regulations. They have passed the district’s qualifications.

Pointing out that there were 13 institutions on the list last year, while this year there were only 12, Allen explained that Key Bank chose not to be added to the list. Key Bank cited the small amount of business it had received from the district as the reason for not being included this year. Allen clarified, saying that even when banks are approved and are on the list, it doesn’t mean they will get the district’s business. And Key Bank hadn’t gotten much business from AAPS. He explained that Key Bank can reapply next year, if it chooses to do that.

Trustee Glenn Nelson asked if an institution that is not included on the list but that wants to do business with the district could still submit the documentation to be approved. Baskett expounded on that, asking if, after the board approves the list, any financial institution not on the list will need to wait another year before applying.

Allen said it was not a unique situation for school districts to offer a defined timeline for businesses to be added to approved lists. He said he will check to see if there is any information on the district website for businesses wanting to get on approved vendor lists.

Trustee Simone Lightfoot asked if there were partnerships, scholarships, or internships for students that can be explored with the financial institutions, particularly given the influx of new technology bond money. Allen asserted that when the district puts out a new request for proposals (RFP), such possibilities will be included. He said most banks were willing to talk to students about being financially astute, but few were willing to put financial resources into the schools.

Outcome: This was a first briefing item. It will be returned to the board for additional review and comment before being voted on at the next regular meeting.

Consent Agenda: Vendor Gifts, Donations

Approval of minutes and a $2,500 donation and vendor gifts from Big Lots to Lawton Elementary School were also included on  the consent agenda.

Lightfoot asked how Big Lots determined which school received the donation. Baskett replied that, according to Big Lots’s regional manager, a stealth team was sent into the Ann Arbor area, and that team determined the school based on need. Trustee Christine Stead noted there were several Lawton teachers present at the Grand Opening ceremony.

Outcome: The consent agenda was approved unanimously.

Communications and Comment

Board meetings include a number of agenda slots where trustees can daylight issues that they feel are important, including “items from the board” and “agenda planning.” And every meeting typically includes public commentary on subjects not necessarily on the formal agenda.

Comm/Comm: Police Presence

During public commentary Scott Farrell introduced himself to the board as  the parent of a student at Ann Arbor Open and a 10th grader who just left the Ann Arbor schools for the technical middle college program. He noted that the board had eliminated funding in this year’s budget for three police liaison positions.

AAPS parent Scott Farrell addressed the board asking that funding for three police liaison positions not be restored.

[These positions are staffed by the Ann Arbor police department. So the AAPS decision to eliminate funding has an impact on the ability of the city of Ann Arbor to maintain its current number of sworn officers, even if the officers in those positions can be kept on, as other officers retire – as two did last week. ] Farrell made a number of arguments based largely on national trends: Violent crime in schools is down 69%, Farrell told the board, despite a 10% reduction in police presence.

Farrell also suggested that a police presence in schools creates a way to funnel kids into the juvenile criminal justice system, which increases their likelihood of dropping out of school, even if they’re not convicted. Children in school also don’t know their rights with respect to law enforcement officers, he said. They don’t realize that they need not answer an officer’s questions without a lawyer present and may not realize something they’re telling an officer as a friendly confidant could be used against them.

The environment created by police in schools can be a fearful one, he said, giving rise to the kind of anxiety we feel when a police car pulls up behind us when we’re stopped at a traffic light. And a fearful environment isn’t conducive to learning, he said.

He asked the board to put any additional funding into those efforts that would reduce class size, allow hiring of counselors, provide conflict resolution training – not restoring the police liaison positions.

Comm/Comm: BoardDocs, Meeting Length

The board went paperless for the first time ever, having completed the switch to BoardDocs, an electronic document management system. The board had unanimously approved its adoption at the Feb. 8 board meeting. All materials provided ahead of time to the board are now available on a centralized BoardDocs website. Any confidential board packets will still be printed and delivered to the trustees.

Simone Lightfoot. Board members referred to their laptop computer screens for agenda information as the board transitioned to the BoardDocs system.

As the meeting opened, several trustees and Robert Allen, deputy superintendent for operations, apologized if that meant they were looking at their laptops more often than usual. When looking at the agenda planner, board president Deb Mexicotte noted that, as it was a public document, it was possible to see how many people were looking at the document at any given time.

Mexicotte, executive secretary to the board of education Amy Osinski, and Superintendent Patricia Green all acknowledged that BoardDocs worked towards helping the board be more transparent to the public, which is part of the district’s strategic plan [Strategic Plan Goal #6].

The Aug. 15 meeting lasted under an hour – which is significant in light of the board’s discussion at its Aug. 1, 2012 about limiting the length of its meetings.

Over the last year, some of the board’s meetings lasted into the early morning hours, and the consensus at the retreat was to adopt the goal of limiting meeting times – possibly by setting parameters for staff presentations.

Comm/Comm: Financial Goals on Agenda?

During “agenda planning” Christine Stead asked why the calendar was not filled in very much. Green replied that as her staff coordinates when various presentations will be given, the calendar will be filled in. She cited people being on vacation during the summer months as a reason why there hadn’t been a more comprehensive calendar yet.

Osinski said that items won’t be put in to the agenda planner until they have been approved to be on the schedule, noting that some standard items still needed to be included.

Mexicotte noted that at the Aug. 1 retreat, the board set two goals – building trust among the trustees and financial goals. She reported that she had spoken to each trustee individually about the goals. At the next Committee of the Whole (COTW) meeting, she said, they will work on addressing the components of the financial goals the board wants to address.

Mexicotte mentioned several of the suggestions that came out of the retreat: “camping out” in Lansing to draw attention to their issues; working towards enhancement millages; and developing relationships with donors through the AAPS Educational Foundation. They will be taking a look at legislative actions, and working them through their agenda throughout the year.

Referring to the trust building goal, Mexicotte said the plans for how to proceed were still in development and will be shared as they are determined.

Comm/Comm: Washtenaw Alliance for Education

During the “items from the board” part of the agenda, Christine Stead mentioned she and Nelson attended a recent retreat for the Washtenaw Alliance for Education (WAE), a consortium of school districts in Washtenaw County focusing on legislative issues.

Christine Stead

Noting that state board of education president John Austin facilitated the discussion, Stead said the members talked over common goals and were working on defining a vision to guide the group. Since there has been an increase in legislation in K-12 education over the past few years, she said, the WAE was looking at increasing their impact in Lansing as a unified county.

Allen, who also attended the retreat, added that some of the items discussed were early childhood and secondary programs – in addition to articulating a vision. He said the group was working to have “clear, concise messages” in their advocacy missions.

Stead said the group talked about other communities across the country that have done work that the WAE hopes to do. She cited both Kalamazoo County’s education initiatives over the past several years and South Carolina’s Colleton County’s work on closing the achievement gap as examples of initiatives that could be focused on by the WAE.

Comm/Comm: Cabinet Intros – Thompson, Hunter

Two new members of the executive cabinet were formally introduced by Green. Both were welcomed by the trustees.

Robyne Thompson joins the district as the assistant superintendent for secondary education, following the retirement of longtime AAPS teacher and administrator, Joyce Hunter. Thompson gave a brief synopsis of her experience, highlighting her time as a middle school principal in the Utica Community Public Schools and her experience in corporate America. She mentioned the district’s work towards closing the achievement gap as an impetus for her move to AAPS. The board approved Thompson’s contract at the June 13, 2012 meeting.

Jenna Bacolor is the new director of community education and recreation, replacing Sara Aeschbach, who retired after 31 years with the district. Bacolor briefly highlighted her previous experience at Washtenaw County Public Health, where she oversaw health programming throughout the county. Green noted the department of community education and recreation will be moving into the instructional services department to offer a more “comprehensive and integrated” approach to Rec and Ed.

Present: President Deb Mexicotte, vice president Christine Stead, treasurer Irene Patalan, and trustees Susan Baskett, Simone Lightfoot, and Glenn Nelson.

Absent: Secretary Andy Thomas.

Next regular meeting: Wednesday, September 5, 2012, at 7 p.m. at the fourth-floor boardroom of the Ann Arbor District Library’s downtown branch, 343 S. Fifth Ave.