AAPS Opens 170 Schools of Choice Seats

Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education regular meeting (March 7, 2012): Trustees of the Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) school board fast-tracked the approval of another 170 schools-of-choice slots in the district, allowing students from within Washtenaw County to transfer to AAPS for the remainder of their K-12 education.

Under Michigan’s schools-of-choice legislation, local school districts can enroll these nonresident students without having to obtain approval from the district in which students reside.

So schools-of-choice students bring their state per-pupil allocation with them to AAPS. If all 170 seats are filled, the district will gain approximately $1.19 million in additional revenue.

The March 7 board meeting included discussions of the district’s transportation options, staffing process, and fund balance as trustees brace for budget recommendations to be brought to them by AAPS administration by the end of March.

Trustees expressed dissatisfaction with its transportation services, which it receives from the Washtenaw Intermediate School District as part of a consortium of other districts.

Schools of Choice

AAPS director of student accounting Jane Landefeld briefly reviewed the policy and procedures the district uses to administer the Schools of Choice program, which the district has offered for the past two years. She reviewed how the district will again offer a limited number of seats – 170 in total, split primarily among kindergarten (40 seats), first grade (40 seats), and sixth grade (50 seats). Ten seats will be also be offered at each grade level between second and fifth grades – mostly to accommodate the older siblings of incoming kindergarten or first-grade students.

Landefeld reported that AAPS gained 72 students through SOC in 2010-11, and another 95 this school year (2011-12). When students are admitted to AAPS, they can stay in the system through graduation.

Landefeld noted that AAPS is required by the state to open a 30-day window, give parents a 15-day notice before opening the window, and announce the number of slots available per grade level, but not per school. If the district receives more than 170 applicants, it is required to admit at least 170 of them, because that is the number of seats AAPS is declaring are open. Siblings of admitted students are given priority, after which a random draw is done by grade level.

Finally, Landefeld explained, AAPS is required to accept all students who apply, unless they have had a suspension in the past two years. Special education status or academic history cannot be a factor in admission. Trustee Susan Baskett asked if AAPS could choose to admit a student who had been suspended, if the district believed the reason for suspension was not serious. Landefeld said the district could do that.

Schools of Choice: Feeder Patterns

Baskett asked if parents who enroll their children in AAPS via the schools of choice program have the opportunity to ensure their children’s admittance to a desired high school by choosing to enroll them in an elementary or middle school that feeds to that high school.

Landefeld explained that while every SOC student is guaranteed a space in the district through graduation, it is not guaranteed that SOC students will follow the same feeder pattern as their elementary or middle school peers.

Basket asked, “Would we really make someone switch feeder patterns?” She asked whether in-district transfer students are guaranteed to follow the feeder pattern of the schools to which they transfer, and Landefeld said no. Neither SOC nor in-district transfer students are guaranteed to follow feeder patterns, but are assured that they will have a space through graduation.

Trustee Simone Lightfoot suggested that the district needs to overhaul the in-district transfer policy, noting that it has “had some challenges.” She questioned whether the policy covers every instance of a parent requesting a new school for his or her student.

Schools of Choice: High School Level

Trustee Andy Thomas suggested that AAPS open up SOC at the high school level as well, and asked if this has been considered. He noted that prior practice was not sufficient reason to restrict SOC to middle and elementary levels when SOC can significantly enhance revenue. Thomas ventured that the district’s decision on this issue had been made during a time of overcrowding at Pioneer and Huron high schools. Now, with a full complement of students now transitioned to the newly-constructed Skyline High School, the district should take another look at this, Thomas said.

AAPS deputy superintendent of instruction Alesia Flye said that superintendent Patricia Green has asked administration to look in to offering high school SOC slots, but that there are myriad challenges. Landefeld noted that one issue is that the high schools have not historically been open for in-district transfers, and said that if high schools were opened to students outside the district, the district should first consider opening them to in-district transfers. She added that the intent of the SOC program is not to add staff. So she pointed out that staffing levels of additional students need to be considered, in addition to physical space in buildings.

Trustee Glenn Nelson argued that the district should rethink the premise that admitting SOC students should not require the hiring of additional staff. He pointed out that a classroom of 30 SOC students would generate approximately $210,000 in revenue, with the average foundation allowance of the other Washtenaw County districts being $7,000. Because the cost of adding an additional staff member is less than $210,000, Nelson argued, the district needs to take another look at this premise.

Landefeld pointed out that the math is not as straightforward as Nelson had characterized it – because a high school student could take up to seven classes, each taught by a different teacher.

Lightfoot noted that she was concerned about SOC causing class sizes to increase, but Nelson argued that it happens both ways. Last year, he pointed out, there was a school that lost a teacher for a grade – but if an additional four or five students from SOC were attending, the school would have had three sections of that grade instead of two, with smaller class sizes in each.

Board president Deb Mexicotte suggested that if trustees felt that due diligence had been done, the opening of these SOC slots could be moved from first briefing to a special briefing, allowing for a vote at the March 7 meeting. Seeing general assent around the board table, Mexicotte directed board secretary Amy Osinski to add SOC to the consent agenda.

The Schools of Choice proposal was approved unanimously as part of the consent agenda, along with minutes, gift offers, and a resolution to thank school social workers in recognition of school social worker week.

Budget Update

AAPS deputy superintendent of operations Robert Allen gave an update on development of the fiscal year 2012-13 budget. The bulk of trustees’ discussion on the budget update focused on transportation, discussed in detail below.

The only other topic Allen covered was the special education reimbursement rate, or the percentage of total special education costs that AAPS is reimbursed by the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD). Allen noted that the rate is projected to decrease from its current level of 73%, but not by as much as initially anticipated. Nelson thanked the community for approving the recent special education millage, which he said would have caused a much larger drop in the reimbursement rate, had it not passed.

Budget Update: Timing of Budget Recommendations

Trustee Christine Stead expressed concern that looking at any one issue, such as transportation, in isolation does not put the district in a good position in terms of “activating the community” around the budgetary tradeoffs the board ultimately needs to make. Trustee Irene Patalan agreed, saying that she was “anxiously awaiting the hard decisions we have to make,” and that she was looking forward to seeing the “whole picture.”

Allen said that the administration is planning to bring a set of budget recommendations to the board by the end of the month, and to the community via forums in the first few weeks of April.

Budget Update: Transportation Review

By way of background, two years ago the AAPS joined with Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts to form a transportation consortium, administered by the WISD. At the board’s committee of the whole meeting on Jan. 25, 2012, the board discussed their collective surprise that Ypsilanti and Willow Run had just decided to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for transportation services, effectively signaling they were considering leaving the consortium. The AAPS board directed Allen to see if Ypsilanti and Willow Run would let AAPS join the RFP, which the district did. At the March 7 meeting, Allen reported on the RFP process.

Allen reported that Ypsilanti and Willow Run had decided in the end not to issue an RFP for transportation services, based on a consultant’s analysis that the potential savings “would not be worth it.” Therefore, Allen clarified, Ypsilanti and Willow Run are “leaning toward just staying in the [WISD] consortium.” He said the district’s options now were to remain in the WISD consortium or to issue an RFP on its own.

Multiple trustees expressed concern that the district’s transportation would continue to be managed by the WISD without ever having had a thorough review of the first two years of service. “I don’t want the WISD to be able to exhale … Service has been terrible,” said Baskett. She said AAPS should consider looking at another vendor for transportation services, but noted that it’s not likely anything new could be implemented “in a timely and respectful manner” for fall 2012. Thomas agreed, saying “this has been a rocky time for students and drivers … It would be a bad idea to upset the apple cart once again [by leaving the consortium].”

Mexicotte noted that the WISD would be making a presentation to the AAPS board in May. Lightfoot said she was concerned about waiting until May to decide whether to stay in the WISD transportation consortium. “I want us to be able to renegotiate this contract,” she said. “I’m looking forward to getting this update so we can move forward.”

Trustees asked Allen about the savings AAPS has gleaned by being part of the consortium. Allen said that while AAPS did not reach its savings target, “We have spent significantly less in transportation under the consortium.” The first year’s savings came from significantly lowering transportation staff salaries, and the second year’s savings came from operational changes, he said. Allen also noted that projected transportation costs have been adjusted in the budget, as reflected in the second quarter financial report.

Budget Update: Transportation Suggestions from the Board

Lightfoot asked if the other six Washtenaw county districts that had not initially joined the consortium would be willing to join now. Allen responded by saying he has not had any conversations regarding expanding the consortium at this time. Lightfoot also suggested forming a board-level transportation committee, and said she was willing to lead it or be a part of it. “This transportation piece is a real passion of mine because of the students who need it,” she said.

Stead suggested that AAPS should lead a more overt effort to get more districts on board, at least in terms of consolidating special education transportation services, which are mandated by law. She asked if there was a way AAPS could help the WISD coordinate with more districts.

Mexicotte’s suggestion was the most strongly worded. She began by saying she found the WISD’s leadership surrounding transportation “troubling,” and noted that the savings gleaned from routing efficiencies came from work by AAPS, not WISD. “I am not certain any more that we can rely on the best thinking of this consortium … I wonder if we shouldn’t look at taking back the leadership around our transportation.”

Second Quarter Financial Report

Allen and AAPS director of finance Nancy Hoover reviewed the district’s financial report for the second quarter of the fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30. The budget amendments proposed by the Allen and Hoover noted revenue increases of $1.2 million, but expenditure increases of $2.2 million.

Hoover explained that the revenue increases were due primarily to Medicaid funding previously held by the WISD being returned to AAPS, the district’s receipt of one-time best practices funding from the state, and WISD’s reimbursement of special education transportation costs. Expenditures, she said, increased primarily due to an adjustment of $800,000 in the transportation budget, and a $1.2 million increase in instructional salaries due to an inability to meet the targeted staff reductions.

In terms of the disbursements being presented for approval, Hoover noted that the district is now writing very few payroll checks, as substitute teachers and coaches now are both also paid via electronic transfer.

Trustees had a few clarifying questions. However, the discussion on budget amendments centered mostly on staffing issues and the district’s fund balance, as the board approaches the task of setting the FY 2012-13 budget.

Second Quarter Financial Report: Staffing

Nelson opened up a discussion on staffing by sharing his concern about the district’s failure to meet its targeted staff reductions. The 2011-12 budget had planned for a reduction of 66 FTEs (full-time equivalent positions) in instructional services. Allen explained that the qualifications and certifications of the teachers who retired still overlapped with the district’s continuing instructional needs. So the district had not been able to achieve the full number of staff reductions that had been targeted. Allen also noted that the district had a “no layoffs” agreement with the teachers’ union as part of the current contract.

Nelson pointed out that recent e-mails he had seen made it look like staffing decisions were being made in the schools before the budget is set. He said he would like to understand the district’s hiring policy and procedures better. He noted that in addition to the budgetary aspect of the district’s hiring process, he had concerns about its timing. “We in Ann Arbor wait, wait, wait in deciding how many people we can hire, but … we are not hiring when the whole pool is available.” Nelson noted that he and Baskett had attended a meeting of the minority affairs committee of the teachers’ union. Based on that meeting, he reported that there is the perception among members of that committee that AAPS is not getting the best teachers from underrepresented groups, because it is not hiring at the right time.

Stead and Baskett each supported Nelson’s request for a review of the district’s hiring process. Baskett also wondered whether the board needed to have a conversation about approaching the teachers’ union to lift the “no-layoffs” constraint. AAPS superintendent Patricia Green said the district has not gone to the unions to reopen contract issues, but acknowledged that “staffing is done very differently here than in other places,” and said internal discussions about the district’s hiring process have been ongoing.

Second Quarter Financial Report: Fund Balance

Stead asked Allen what the district is expecting fund equity to look like in the third quarter. She pointed out that there was a big change in the fund balance between the second and third quarters last year. Allen said he was not expecting any major changes to fund equity, and that there may be a slight savings in health care costs.

Stead requested that Allen provide the board with a history of what the third and fourth quarters have done to fund equity the past few years – in order to increase the board’s confidence as it sets the fiscal year 2012-13 budget. She asserted that the more Allen can help the board understand the kinds of swings expected in fund equity, the better the board can decide how to weather the next round of budget reductions.

Nelson noted that the $2.2 million in increased expenditures means that the fund balance for this year will be lower than anticipated. Thomas added that the majority of the negative expenditures variance is due to retaining 14 more FTEs than anticipated, and asked whether the district will attempt to reduce these FTEs next year.

Allen answered that those 14 FTEs become part of the new base expenditures. He noted that depending on the district retirements this year, the positions could be absorbed. But he also pointed out that the district will need to add roughly 24 teachers in order to offer all-day kindergarten.

Outcome: The second quarter financial report will return to the board for a second briefing and vote at the next regular meeting.

Public Commentary

Three people addressed the board at the March 7 meeting.

Public Comment: Disciplinary Action

Ruth Zweifler of the Student Advocacy Center spoke on the issue of disproportionality in suspensions and expulsions, and requested that the board declare a moratorium on all disciplinary exclusions. She argued that school exclusions are meant to be a last resort and that the message of exclusion for already marginalized children affirms their sense they are not welcome and they don’t belong. “Racial disproportionality is shameful and hurts everyone,” Zweifler asserted. Noting her length of service to students in this area, Zweifler noted that the data do not look any different than they did years ago.

Public Comment: Student School Board

Ray Batra, a University of Michigan student and AAPS alumnus addressed the board as a member of rEDesign, an education reform group formed by UM undergraduates. He said rEDesign had studied AAPS, and noted a lack of student perspective at the board level. He urged the board to consider creating a “student school board,” which would be general representative of AAPS and enjoy students’ respect in a way the Youth Senate has not. The student school board, Batra said, would have two goals: (1) to address some of the smaller problems at certain schools—such as the use of security cameras and lunch concerns; and (2) to be a student voice for some of the bigger issues, such as budget cuts, or curriculum revisions.

With an advisor, Batra suggested, this student school board could be led to develop and present resolutions to the board. Finally, he noted that in addition to providing students with a respected, legitimate voice, having a student school board would provide a civic education opportunity, with board members actively developing student leadership.

During clarification on public commentary, Mexicotte said that members of rEDesign had met with her as well as Stead and Green, and presented a comprehensive proposal, which she would be sending on to the full board for review. Green added that her executive cabinet would be discussing the proposal as well, and that she saw the student school board as an opportunity to develop student leadership and voice, and prevent students from being excluded.

Mexicotte said this was an opportune time for rEDesign to approach the board, because the board has been discussing student voice. She expressed interest in her fellow trustees’ review of the rEDesign proposal, as well as administrative recommendations about how to increase student voice, and said she was interested in finding ways for board members to mentor students.

Public Comment: Huron versus Skyline

Finally, Kaveh Esmael addressed the board on behalf of his daughter, who will be attending high school next year. He described an issue he has been having regarding getting his daughter assigned to Huron instead of Skyline. Esmael owns a home in each attendance area. He expressed concern with how he had been treated by AAPS administration regarding his daughter’s school assignment, as well as how boundary lines have been drawn for the high schools in general. Finally, Esmael asserted that the education at Skyline is not “on par” with the other two comprehensive high schools, and that the environment there is not safe for girls, especially Muslim girls. “I don’t want my daughter to be part of this experience,” he said. “We should not kid ourselves.”

During clarification on public commentary, Lightfoot asked how follow up would be done with parents who brought concerns to public commentary, and Green said administration would follow up personally. [During the meeting break, The Chronicle observed two members of AAPS administration meeting with Esmael at a table in the hallway.]

At the end of the meeting, during “items from the board,” Mexicotte responded to Esmael’s assertions. She said she was confident that the three AAPS comprehensive high schools are all equally excellent in terms of rigor and student opportunities. She asked if the board would be amenable to having Green look into the perception or reality expressed by Esmael that there are diversity and tolerance issues relating to Muslim students at Skyline. “I don’t really think this is the case, but I am concerned that there is this perception,” Mexicotte said. The board agreed to having Green look into Esmael’s claims.

All-Day Kindergarten

Mexicotte noted that all-day kindergarten was on the March 7 board agenda not because there was any more work to be done on the issue, but to affirm the presentation the board had been given at the Feb. 15 committee of the whole, to acknowledge that the board had been well-briefed on the issue before its vote at a special meeting on Feb. 18, and to give board members an opportunity to speak to the issue.

Green said she has received a lot of positive feedback on the board’s decision to approve all-day kindergarten in all schools. She noted that she had been approached in downtown Ann Arbor and asked to thank the board, and called the move “a step in a new direction as a district.” Nelson agreed, saying he was “happy and proud of this step.”

Stead pointed out that while moving to all-day kindergarten will be best for students from an instructional perspective, and will cost less than maintaining half-day kindergarten, it will still cost the district $1.5 million. She said it is important to be aware of the tradeoffs the district has to continue to make due to state funding changes.

Lightfoot assured the public that the board did have a conversation about keeping half-day kindergarten, but ultimately decided it was more feasible to make the kindergarten program uniform across the board.

Two trustees had questions regarding all-day kindergarten. Patalan asked Green if she could give some reassurance that all day kindergarten would support young children’s capacity for imagination and play and not always focus on academics and testing. Green acknowledged that there is a balance, and that all-day kindergarten will allow teachers better to develop students’ creativity and unleash their imagination and sense of play. “This is a tremendous opportunity,” she said. “When it’s done right, the potential is exponential … to develop well-rounded youngsters.”

Baskett asked what the district’s practice was regarding “redshirting,” or “holding a child back until age six for kindergarten.” Calling the practice a “growing trend,” AAPS director of student accounting Jane Landefeld acknowledged, “We do have parents who choose to redshirt … It tends to be more males. Parents want them to be older and stronger to participate in high school sports.”

Mexicotte said moving to all-day kindergarten will be better for the district educationally and financially. Green thanked deputy superintendent of instruction Alesia Flye for spearheading this effort and deputy superintendent of operations Robert Allen and his staff for being sure the district could move this forward as quickly as possible.

Student Reinstatement Action

Mexicotte noted that trustees had received a copy of a motion regarding a student reinstatement. She moved that the board deny reinstatement of Student A based on the reinstatement panel recommendation.

Outcome: The motion to deny reinstatement to Student A passed unanimously.

Student Engagement

The board invites student voices to the board table in two direct ways – for one of the two regular meetings per month, the Youth Senate is invited to make a presentation, and for the other meeting that month, a slot is reserved to hear from representatives of one of the six AAPS high schools on a rotating basis. At the Feb. 8 meeting, representatives of Community High School addressed the board.

Student Engagement: Community High School

Hind Omar and Emma Share reported for Community high school. They expressed enthusiasm for their school, and noted opportunities for students to be involved there. They noted their involvement with the School Improvement Team, and credited SIT with increasing the diversity in the admissions lottery for Community, starting program between upperclassmen to mentor and lowerclassmen, and increasing the membership of a variety of student groups.

Omar and Share also mentioned they were two of the chairs on the forum council. Community’s students are organized into 20 forums, which include students from each grade. They explained that the forums are used to help coordinate “not school as usual” days, such as going to see Sweet Honey in the Rock, or pulling garlic mustard weeds throughout the city. Forum council is also planning a fundraiser this spring to address local hunger issues, they reported, and visits middle schools to help recruit students.

Patalan asked the Community students about the strategies they used to increase diversity in their admissions lottery.

Hind explained that there is a mandatory information meeting for parents and students to attend before they can apply for a spot, and those meetings have historically been held on weekdays. Last year, she said, Community began offering an information session on Sunday to allow for parents to attend who could not make it during the week. Share added that she was part of the team of students who did outreach at the district’s middle schools. The goal of that outreach was to show middle school students that Community is for all types of people. She noted that next year’s incoming class is more diverse, and credited the outreach strategies with increasing the diversity in the lottery pool.

Patalan said that she had heard this was the largest group of applicants, and suggested that the outreach that had been done increased interest in Community in general as well as among students of color.

Association Reports

Five associations are invited to make regular reports to the school board: the Black Parents Student Support Group (BPSSG), the Ann Arbor Parent Advisory Committee for Special Education (AAPAC), the Parent Teacher Organization Council (PTOC), the Ann Arbor Administrators Association (AAAA), and the Ann Arbor Education Association (AAEA). The BPSSG, AAPAC, and AAAA addressed the board at the March 7 meeting.

Association Reports: BPSSG

Bryan Johnson reported for the BPSSG. He noted that the BPSSG is working with the University of Michigan school of education on student achievement, and is planning for a roll-out of their efforts in 2012-13. He also noted that the BPSSG had attended “National African-American Parent Involvement Day (NAAPID) at Night”, and that he looks forward to AAPS hosting the county-wide event next year. Johnson said that the BPSSG had discussed the racial disparities in the newly released discipline data, as well as Green’s plan for addressing these disparities.

Association Reports: AAPAC

Maria Huffman reported for the AAPAC. She thanked AAPS special education staff members for their recent updates, and expressed appreciation for the developments they shared regarding the Kurzweil assistive technology system, peer-to-peer mentoring, and a transition guide for students with IEPs transitioning from high school to beyond. Huffman reported that adaptive physical education classes at some of the middle schools are being offered at a time that conflicts with academic classes, and argued that this was an unacceptable arrangement. Finally, Huffman invited trustees to attend upcoming Disability Awareness Workshops in the district, and encouraged parents to participate as well.

Association Reports: AAAA

Dicken elementary principal Michael Madison reported for the AAAA, beginning by congratulating the UM men’s basketball team on their first conference title in 26 years. He pointed out two fellow principals in attendance at the meeting – Jennifer Hein from Community High, and Kit Flynn from Ann Arbor Open, and said that several administrators would be attending all future board meetings so that the board can put faces to names.

Madison thanked the board for its recognition of principals’ week, and Green for the plaques that she had made up for each principal. He also thanked the trustees for their leadership, and invited them to visit school buildings during the day and for evening events as well. Finally, he reported that the AAAA is “150% behind the tech bond initiative,” and has even given a very small donation to the citizen’s millage committee as a sign of support. Madison said the principals will work with the community to help them know why they need to support the tech bond.

Superintendent’s Report

Green began by recognizing school social workers, national merit scholars, Skyline High School’s theater troupe, and AAPS students who recently won competitions in art, chess, business, and journalism. She also thanked students for recent service projects they have completed in the community.

Green noted that trustee Susan Baskett had been awarded a “master board member” award from the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB), and congratulated her on the accomplishment. Among other accolades of individual students, Green noted the tremendous commitment and dedication of band and orchestra members throughout the district, along with vocal and instrumental solo and ensemble winners. She invited everyone to notice the AAPS student artwork on display downtown in honor of youth art month, and, finally, noted that she was recently inducted into the Ann Arbor Rotary Club, and was excited to “dig [her] roots deeper into the Ann Arbor community.”

Thomas added that the music programs in AAPS are “phenomenal,” and singled out Skyline in particular for the program growth they have shown. “It’s incredibly difficult to start an orchestra from scratch … I really think that Andrea Cowper and her staff and all the student musicians deserve a lot of recognition for the dedication they have shown.”

Agenda Planning

Baskett requested a review of the district’s alternative programs, including enrollment numbers and accomplishments of the WAY program, the International Baccalaureate, Clemente, and A2 Tech. She also requested a set of action steps for the discipline plan Green revealed in December, 2011. Green responded that the discipline plan is part of her overarching student achievement plan, and will be discussed as part of the overall plan being presented at the board’s next committee-of-the-whole meeting on March 14.

Items from the Board

Stead reported that the Forsythe Middle School science fair was a great event, and complimented all the students who participated. She also complimented Pioneer High School athletic director Lorin Cartwright for bringing students and teachers together for Pioneer basketball team’s teacher appreciation night, saying it was a great opportunity for students to honor their teachers.

Lightfoot also appreciated the Pioneer event she said, noting that the “young men were very articulate in their writing … Their penmanship was amazing.” [Each student athlete selected one teacher to honor.] Lightfoot also reported that she had visited a Rising Scholars event at Huron High School, and expressed support for the program. She said she had been honored to be selected as a “living leader” during Black History Month.

Nelson congratulated Baskett for a presentation on privatization during a recent forum during a recent forum sponsored by the local League of Women Voters. He agreed that orchestra night was a tremendous testimony to students, staff, and parents. And, he thanked the citizens helping out with the upcoming tech bond, saying that the kickoff was wonderful and inspiring.

Baskett emphasized the wonderful work of AAPS students, and asserted that “orchestra night was a great recruiting tool.” She reported that she was impressed with the commitment of teachers she saw during National African-American Parent Involvement Day at Carpenter Elementary, Bryant Elementary, and Slauson. Middle School. And, Baskett said she met with parents from southeastern Ann Arbor’s PTOs who were analyzing the potential impact of the district’s budget cuts to their buildings.

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

Next regular meeting: Wednesday March 21, 2012, at 7 p.m. at the downtown branch of the Ann Arbor District Library, 343 S. Fifth Ave.

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