A public forum on the downtown zoning review was held at Bill’s Beer Garden, with the intent of increasing public participation – because the place is always packed. Four people showed up. [photo] It’s the emptiest I’ve ever seen it. [photo]
Stories indexed with the term ‘public forum’
Main & Ann
Suggestion box at public forum for A2D2 zoning review, in lower level of the county administration building. It’s currently empty. [photo]
Forums Set on Downtown Library’s Future
The Ann Arbor District Library board has scheduled three public forums in June to seek input on the future of the downtown Ann Arbor District Library – including the possibility of putting a millage on the ballot in November 2012 to fund a project. According to a press release issued by AADL on Tuesday, the forums are also intended for library staff to present information about “the challenge and opportunities presented by the Downtown Library.” Tours of the current building at 343 S. Fifth Ave. will also be provided.
The forums are set for Saturday, June 9 from 10 a.m.-noon; Tuesday, June 12 from 7-9 p.m.; and Wednesday, June 20 from 7-9 p.m. All forums will be held in the downtown library’s … [Full Story]
AAPS Budget Forum: Class Size, Equity
AAPS Community Budget Forum (May 14, 2012): The Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) school board continues to solicit community input, as trustees plan for the approval of the district’s fiscal year 2012-13 budget by June 30. The district is facing a $17.8 million deficit, and is considering cuts to teaching staff, busing, music camp supports, and high school programming, among other areas.
Small group work made up a portion of the May 14 budget forum. (Photo by the writer.)
Attendance at the second community budget forum held Monday at Huron high school was lighter than at the first one, held a week earlier. Still, almost 40 community members and about a dozen staff members participated.
The two main themes that came out of the second forum were: (1) a desire to keep the cuts away from the classrooms (i.e. not cutting teaching staff or increasing class sizes); and (2) a concern that the cuts as proposed would disproportionately affect the most educationally vulnerable segments of the district’s population. Many participants also expressed concern that the timing of the proposed budget reductions would not allow for transition planning this late in the year, and that the district was not being sufficiently forthcoming with detailed budget information.
Trustees Glenn Nelson, Irene Patalan, and Christine Stead attended the May 14 budget forum. The board will hold a discussion on the budget during their next committee of the whole meeting to be held on Wednesday, May 16 beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Balas administration building’s main conference room. [Full Story]
AAPS Seeks Public Input on Budget
Ann Arbor Public Schools budget forum (November 10, 2011): About 60 people joined AAPS superintendent Patricia Green, deputy superintendent of operations Robert Allen and the rest of the AAPS top administrators at a budget forum last Thursday evening.
Ann Arbor Public Schools board trustee Glenn Nelson (light blue shirt), listening to parents at the AAPS budget forum on Nov. 10. (Photos by the writer.)
The forum served two distinct purposes: (1) to educate the public on school funding issues, including its specific challenges for crafting next year’s (2012-13) budget; and (2) to solicit ideas from the public on how the district can reduce its budget by $14 million.
The current fiscal year’s approved budget is $183.62 million.
The district typically schedules budget forums in the spring, but this year wants to involve the community earlier than that.
A second forum will take place Monday, Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria annex at Pioneer High School.
At Thursday’s event, Allen said that the district is projecting a $14 million deficit for the 2012-13 school year. Over the past five years, the district has made a cumulative total of nearly $50 million in cuts. [Full Story]