First day of school 2013: Top changes at Ann Arbor Public Schools
About $7 million worth of repair and upgrade work to Ann Arbor Public Schools buildings and properties have been completed while students were out of the classroom for summer break.
At the start of classes Tuesday, there will be a number of changes students will see in their respective buildings besides different principals and teachers.
Tim Gruszczynski said his staff first evaluates which projects are critical to maintaining the infrastructure of the school buildings when deciding summer projects.
“We put forward the projects that we feel are critical from a facility management standpoint,” Gruszczynski said.
After getting estimates for the vital projects, Gruszczynski said the remaining funds in the district’s budget for repair projects are matched to the needs from individual school buildings.
The vast majority of the projects have been completed with the district's sinking fund millage. The 1 mill property tax raised about $7.3 million for this year's projects. As the millage expires in 2014, the district is seeking a continuation of the millage on the November ballot.
Gruszczynski said estimates were available for some of the projects completed this year, though others had not been completely billed so an approximate cost was not available.
Here's some of the new features at AAPS buildings students will see this fall:
Synthetic turf practice field at Skyline High School
A new synthetic turf practice field has replaced the grass field inside the track at Skyline High School. The approximately $900,000 field is the second turf field at Skyline, as the other one is in the football stadium.
Synthetic turf creates an equitable playing surface for teams year-round, Gruszczynski said. It also costs less to maintain.
Both Pioneer and Huron high schools have two synthetic turf athletic fields.
Universally accessible playground at Haisley Elementary School
It's the first playground in AAPS to be specifically designed to be universally accessible. The playground includes wheelchair swings and is completely compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Gruszczynski said there's a large special needs community at Haisley and a parent group has been active in pushing for a new playground at that location.
Doors
AAPS is in the middle of upgrading all of the doors on its schools that were installed when the schools were built that are in disrepair. Existing doors are made of galvanized, painted steel.
New doors are made of fiberglass reinforced panels, Gruszczynski said. The perk of the new doors is that they don't rust, Gruszczynski said.
Many of the older doors have either warped or rusted to the point that they can't be trusted to close completely, Gruszczynski said.
Several years ago the exterior doors at Scarlett and Clague middle schools were updated using the district's sinking fund millage.
This summer, exterior doors at Forsythe Middle School, King Elementary, Mitchell Elementary, Ann Arbor Open/Mack School, Wines Elementary and Abbot Elementary were replaced at a cost of about $800,000.
Replacing school doors will be an ongoing project for the district, Gruszczynski said.
Roofs, heating and cooling upgrades and new floors
A number of infrastructure improvements have happened throughout AAPS buildings.
About $1 million was invested to install new roofs on portions of Slauson Middle School, Northside Elementary School, the gym at Clague Middle School, Mitchell Elementary School and Pioneer High School. Portions of the roofs at Lawton and Logan elementary schools have been re-sealed as well.
A number of projects to replace and refurbish heating and cooling equipment at schools across the district will give staff better control over the temperature in buildings, Gruszczynski said.
Those projects include the boiler at the pool at Skyline High School, the boilers at Roberto Clemente Student Development Center, fans at Slauson Middle School, fans at Pioneer, fans at the music and pool at Scarlett Middle School and air handling units at Tappan Middle School.
The main chiller at Huron High School has been replaced this summer.
New vinyl flooring has also been installed at Lakeside Elementary, Burns Park Elementary, Clague Middle School and the music room at Abbot Elementary.
Fresh pavement on parking lots and playgrounds
Parking lots at Ann Arbor Technological High School ($57,000), Bryant Elementary School ($250,000), Roberto Clemente ($79,000) and Huron High ($56,000) have been repaved.
At Haisely ($10,000), Dicken ($29,000) and Northside ($10,000), outside play areas have been resurfaced. An outdoor basketball court at Slauson has been re-done ($21,000), as well as a tennis court at Tappan Middle School ($53,000).
Reconfigured computer labs at Huron and Community high schools
As a result of the second phase of AAPS' tech bond, a number of new computers are coming to Huron and Community high schools this fall—and the computer labs had to be reconfigured to accommodate the new machines. New wiring had to be run for new tables that will be installed, Gruszczynski said.
Fixed sewer issues at Community High School
A sewer pipe at Community High School had been causing numerous backups to the sanitary system in the school, Gruszczynski said. Workers repaired the aging pipe this year to ensure that it drains properly, Gruszczynski said.
Amy Biolchini is the K-12 education reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.
Comments
DJ Earl
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 5:23 p.m.
For what use is a boiler at a swimming pool? Could it be simply a heater?
DJ Earl
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 7:06 p.m.
Or, instead of voting thumbs-down, you could answer the question.
brimble
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 3:58 p.m.
This headline is, at best, misleading. What follows is a report of how the AAPS spent money from a specific fund over the summer. This is a reasonable report in light of an upcoming millage question, but it should be presented as such. True "top changes" include the arrival of the new Superintendent, major changes in personnel, changes in programs, new or discontinued extracurriculars, and so on, not parking lot repaving.
Basic Bob
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 8:06 p.m.
that was my expectation. new superintendent, one of the deputies 'retired' to wisd, several principals retired, relocated, removed or replaced. all these have a larger impact than synthetic grass.
Eduard Copely
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 2:06 p.m.
You forgot the new republican law requiring giving students an opportunity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in the 2013-2014 school year.
DJ Earl
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 5:50 p.m.
Whoops
Eduard Copely
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 5:33 p.m.
Pledge your association.
DonBee
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 4:54 p.m.
All of the following voted in FAVOR of the bill. So, since when are all of these people Republicans? SENATE DEMOCRATS Anderson (D) Bieda (D) Gleason (D) Hood (D) Hunter (D) Johnson (D) SENATE REPUBLICANS Booher (R) Brandenburg (R) Casperson (R) Caswell (R) Colbeck (R) Emmons (R) Green (R) Hansen (R) Hildenbrand (R) Hune (R) Jansen (R) Jones (R) Kahn (R) Kowall (R) Marleau (R) Meekhof (R) Moolenaar (R) Nofs (R) Pappageorge (R) Proos (R) Richardville (R) Robertson (R) Rocca (R) Schuitmaker (R) Walker (R) HOUSE DEMOCRATS Ananich (D) Bauer (D) Bledsoe (D) Brown (D) Brunner (D) Byrum (D) Cavanagh (D) Clemente (D) Constan (D) Darany (D) Dillon (D) Greimel (D) Hammel (D) Haugh (D) Hovey-Wright (D) Howze (D) Jackson (D) Kandrevas (D) Lane (D) LeBlanc (D) Lipton (D) Liss (D) McCann (D) Meadows (D) Nathan (D) Oakes (D) Rutledge (D) Santana (D) Schmidt, R. (D) Segal (D) Slavens (D) Smiley (D) Stallworth (D) Stanley (D) Stapleton (D) Switalski (D) Talabi (D) Tlaib (D) Townsend (D) HOUSE REPUBLICANS Agema (R) Bolger (R) Bumstead (R) Callton (R) Cotter (R) Crawford (R) Daley (R) Damrow (R) Denby (R) Farrington (R) Forlini (R) Foster (R) Franz (R) Genetski (R) Gilbert (R) Glardon (R) Goike (R) Graves (R) Haines (R) Haveman (R) Heise (R) Hooker (R) Horn (R) Hughes (R) Huuki (R) Jacobsen (R) Jenkins (R) Johnson (R) Knollenberg (R) Kowall (R) Kurtz (R) LaFontaine (R) Lori (R) Lund (R) Lyons (R) MacGregor (R) MacMaster (R) McBroom (R) McMillin (R) Moss (R) Muxlow (R) Nesbitt (R) O'Brien (R) Olson (R) Opsommer (R) Ouimet (R) Outman (R) Pettalia (R) Poleski (R) Potvin (R) Price (R) Pscholka (R) Rendon (R) Rogers (R) Schmidt, W. (R) Shaughnessy (R) Shirkey (R) Somerville (R) Stamas (R) Tyler (R) Walsh (R) Yonker (R) Zorn (R)
Nicholas Urfe
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 1:22 p.m.
How often are lowly students allowed to use the million dollar synthetic fields at Skyline vs. after school athletics?
DJ Earl
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 5:50 p.m.
Gym class.
Barb's Mom
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 12:50 p.m.
"Those projects include the boiler at the pool at Skyline High School,"--Skyline High School is 5 years old. Wasn't there a guarantee on the boiler so it should have been fixed at no cost?
A Voice of Reason
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 12:24 p.m.
I wish the changes to the schools meant smaller classrooms. I heard English classes at the high schools have 36 plus kids in them.
JRW
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 12:21 p.m.
What about all the technology upgrades that were supposed to happen as a result of the technology bond passed a year ago? Can someone report on those upgrades and exactly how that money was spent?
DJ Earl
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 5:20 p.m.
I think DonBee's right. I have learned that technology improvements are happening. They're just not among the summer-specific projects like new asphalt or roof coatings.
DonBee
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 1:43 p.m.
JRW - They are rolling out the technology is pieces, last year 2012-13 they did infrastructure upgrades like the server closets and the mac servers in the buildings. Also a number of administrators got new computers. This year 2013-14 some of the schools are supposed to get new computers, if I understand my conversation with Mr. Trent correctly, and in 2014-15 the balance of the schools will get their new computers. The cycle will start again in 2015-16 when the administrators who got new computers in 2012-13 get theirs replaced.
thinker
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 11:43 a.m.
Pools closed at middle schools...Why don't you discuss the negatives too?
West Side Mom
Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 1:34 a.m.
I'd like to believe replacing a fan in the pool area at Scarlett is a positive sign for the future of the middle school pools. I am worried it may represent the district approaching capital improvements/replacements without a plan. If AAPS wants another 1 mill in sinking fund money, they need to show us how they intend to spend it. Not just how much they intend to spend.
olddog
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 11:29 a.m.
A new synthetic turf practice field has replaced the grass field inside the track at Skyline High School. The approximately $900,000 field is the second turf field at Skyline, as the other one is in the football stadium........ And that is equal to how many teachers, how many new library books, how many late middle school bus routes, how many smaller lower elementary classrooms??? AAPS and Ann Arbor parents where are your priorities? We have multiple athletic facilities of the same cost in this town!!! How many are there in total in all the countries that are surpassing us in math, reading and science,
TryingToBeObjective
Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:55 a.m.
About 100 Skyline football players safely practiced on the new turf today, while umpteen other soccer players were on the main field for a game. I guess it's different when there's a request for the same amount of credits at Huron or Pioneer as at Skyline, but not the same equity in safe sports fields at Skyline, as at Huron or Pioneer. That's different. Get over it.
DonBee
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 6:48 p.m.
Ms Margolis - I agree with your statement, natural grass is cheaper to maintain, especially when you only need to mow it spring and fall. In the summer you charge Rec&Ed for the use of the fields and cover the cost of maintenance from that charge to Rec&Ed. AAPS fields are the most expensive to use for Rec&Ed according to discussions I have had with staff at Rec&Ed.
Liz Margolis
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 6:22 p.m.
Mr. DonBee. The cost to maintain natural grass compared to field turf is less. I think you may be aware of this.
kris
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 6 p.m.
I heard that some soccer or lacrosse players got injured while playing on that uneven grass field at Skyline. Perhaps lawsuits were threatened.
DJ Earl
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 5:18 p.m.
If Pioneer and Huron had two synthetic fields, then Skyline had to get a second one in order to prevent yet another equality lawsuit by the ACLU.
Goober
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 4:59 p.m.
A consistent pattern of wasteful spending. We need to replace the whole AA BOE and elect a team that will lead our school system in the right direction. Until the voters rise to this occasion, we get what we get - wasteful spending.
DonBee
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 1:39 p.m.
Ms. Margolis - It could have been used for more security doors, or energy efficiency upgrades, which would have reduced energy bills which do come out of the general fund. Just because a dollar can't directly be used for salaries, does not mean that using it wisely can't result in more of the general fund being available to cover salary and benefits. As it is, now there is another synthetic field that will have to be maintained at Skyline and eventually replaced.
Liz Margolis
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 1:30 p.m.
Sinking fund money is not allowed to be used for teacher salaries. No operating funds were used in the field turf project.
Susan
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 12:24 p.m.
That is equal to NINE teacher positions. How shameful! Where are the priorities?
Chucky
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 10:33 a.m.
Amy - I remember driving by Pioneer on July 4 and noticing a bunch of people working on the roof. I remember because I was surprised they were working on the holiday. The next day (Friday, July 5) I drove by and no one was working. My immediate, admittedly cynical, reaction was the work on July 4th was a ploy to get paid double time and bilk the school district. Do you think this is worth looking into?
L. C. Burgundy
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 7:41 p.m.
Since it was almost certainly an outside contractor doing the work, the only relevant issues are the contract $ amount (which I'm sure was preapproved at some fixed dollar amount) and getting the job done in the time frame allotted. I'm sure AAPS didn't mind the work being done on a summer holiday, and any pay/employee issues that may be associated with holiday work would the contractor's issue to handle.
DJ Earl
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 5:26 p.m.
I believe this same thing happened with trash collection in Ann Arbor... they juggled a day off from the observed holiday to another day that was adjacent to a weekend. I think it's pretty normal.
Basic Bob
Tue, Sep 3, 2013 : 2 p.m.
The workers probably agreed to take their holiday on Friday so they could get a long weekend. AAPS would not pay extra for this arrangement.