PLEASE SIGN WITH FIRST AND LAST NAME AND AFFILIATION WITH ANN ARBOR.

We, the undersigned Ann Arbor constituents, taxpayers, community members and concerned parents call for the IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL of the “Resolution Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza" (revised as “Resolution Calling for a Bilateral Ceasefire in Gaza”) (the original and presumed revised version hereinafter referred to as the “Resolution”) initially proposed by the Ann Arbor Public Schools (“AAPS”) Board of Education (the “Board”) on December 20, 2023 and presumed revised version set to be voted by the Board on January 17, 2024. [FN1]

While we all mourn the innocent lives lost in the current Middle East crisis along with all innocent lives lost in the numerous humanitarian crises that plague our imperfect world, the AAPS Board is not the appropriate forum for addressing these international and humanitarian crises. We implore the Board to return to its duties prioritizing education.  

• The Resolution is OUTSIDE OF THE BOARD’S SCOPE AND AUTHORITY. [FN2]. Critical in-district problems that fall within the Board’s scope and authority demand the time and attention of this Board; for the Board to dedicate time to global geopolitics and global humanitarian issues misdirects timely governance and resources away from issues such as Superintendent hiring, special education oversight, and ensuring academic excellence. 
• The Resolution creates a SLIPPERY SLOPE and sets a DANGEROUS PRECEDENT. It sets an unreasonable expectation that the Board will weigh in on innumerable geopolitical, international and humanitarian crises for which AAPS has no direct influence or control. It could disenfranchise and marginalize the many other Ann Arbor constituents deeply affected by global crises for which the Board chooses not to pass a resolution. Furthermore, the Resolution could incentivize other local special interest groups with strong geopolitical stances on a range of conflicts and topics from abortion to Ukraine to China to push for Board action, further distracting the Board's time and attention away from its core educational mission, scope and authority.   
• The Resolution is DIVISIVE. Since the Resolution was introduced, it has resulted in divisive and distracting discourse among community members and Board members. It generated record-number of public comments, countless e-mails to Board members and numerous allegations of anti-semitism and Islamophobia. The resolution has the potential to create a hostile educational and workplace environment for students, teachers and staff which directly contradicts AAPS’s goals of equity and inclusion. [FN3].
• The Resolution could OVERBURDEN TEACHERS AND STAFF. It encourages classroom discussions about the conflict in the Middle East without any curricular standards or additional teacher training. Many adult community members themselves struggle to have these complex discussions, we cannot expect teachers and staff to lead these discussions with students, to become the arbiters between fact and bias, especially with emotions running so high in the community. This will unnecessarily burden teachers and staff who are ill-equipped to have these difficult and complex discussions in their classrooms and could lead to significant emotional harm for students, staff and community members. Our teachers and staff have enough on their plates.
• To the extent the Resolution is intended to address discrimination and hate, it is SUPERFLUOUS AND REDUNDANT of the district’s existing Anti-Discrimination Policy which should continue to be robustly applied to all incidents of discrimination and hate. [FN4].

For all of these reasons, we therefore ask the Board to IMMEDIATELY WITHDRAW the Resolution and to return to the appropriate work of a school board prioritizing educational matters. 

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FN1. See First Draft "Resolution Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza" Discussed at December 20, 2023 Board Meeting; see Presumed Revised Draft "Resolution Calling for Bilaterial Ceasefire in Gaza" which does not yet appear publicly available, but was edited live during the December 20, 2023 Board meeting which can be viewed here.  

FN2. See AAPS Policies & Regulations, Bylaws, § 1000  Scope & Authority; see also Trustee Schmidt's consultation with Michigan Association of School Boards confirmation Resolution outside of Board's scope ("...does seem outside the Board's purview") here; see also AAPS Policies & Regulations, Administration § 2000 Mission and Beliefs (“…We will not engage in anything that does not support our primary-secondary educational programs…”).  

FN3. See AAPS Policies & Regulations, Bylaws, § 1060 Board Member Code of Conduct ("Members of the Ann Arbor Board ... shall...Represent all school district recipients honestly, equally and equitably, and refuse to surrender their responsibilities to narrow interests or partisan political groups...Avoid any conflict of interest or the appearance of impropriety which could result from their position, and will not use their board membership for personal gain or publicity...recogniz[e] the board's responsibility to represent the interests of the entire commnity...”).

FN4. See AAPS Policies & Regulations, Student, § 5010 Non-Discrimination (“No student shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits from, or be subjected to discrimination in any educational program or activity available in any school on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, creed, political belief, age, national origin, immigration status, linguistic and language differences, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, socioeconomic status, height, weight, marital or familial status, disability or veteran status. The superintendent or designee will handle inquires regarding this nondiscrimination policy.”)