History
In 1825, the city's first public school opened. A union school district was organized in 1830 and a dedicated high school building was built in 1855 and opened on October 5, 1856. [7] [8]
The high school and its 1871 and 1889 additions were completely destroyed by fire on December 31, 1904. Some equipment, including the library books, were saved from the fire. [9]
In 1908, a new high school building opened on the southeast corner of Huron and State Street. The building was replaced by Ann Arbor Pioneer High School in 1956 and bought by University of Michigan. It was torn down in 2007. [10]
In 1922 and 1923, the oldest schools still in use by the district were built: Bach, Angell, and Burns Park Elementaries, Mack School (now Ann Arbor Open School), and Jones Elementary (now Community High School). [11] [12]
When Pioneer High School opened in 1956, it was still the only high school in the district. It was designed by the Cleveland architecture firm Fulton, Krinsky and Delamontte. [13] It was so impressive that a reporter for the Associated Press called it "a high school to end all high schools." [14]
Huron High School, designed by architecture firm Lane, Riebe, Weiland, [15] opened in September 1969. [16] Skyline High School opened in fall 2008. [17] The architect was TMP Associates. [18]
In 2015, Washtenaw County Circuit Judge Carol Kuhnke ruled that the Ann Arbor district can continue banning guns on its campus properties. [19]
In 2019, voters in the district passed a $1 billion bond issue to improve district facilities. [20]
Controversies
Despite being ranked as having some of the best schools in America, AAPS has not been without controversy. [23]
Racial hostility civil rights complaint
In 2020, a black student at Pioneer High School filed a complaint with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights alleging racism in Ann Arbor schools. [24] [25] The filing came after an earlier petition from the school's Black Student Union requesting the teacher's dismissal. [26] In October, a local group protested in front of the school demanding action against the teacher. The school system hired its own attorney to perform an independent investigation of the allegations. [27] The next year, a parent filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against AAPS, claiming they withheld documents that would provide evidence of racial discrimination at the high school and uncover the teacher's history of racial antagonism. [28] [29]
Student abuse cover up scandal
In July of 2023, local media began reporting that a school aide had assaulted a 7-year-old student on an AAPS school bus. The aide was convicted of child abuse, but a lawsuit from the family alleged that the school covered up the abuse. [30] [31] [32] By September, superintendent Jeanice Swift had resigned, and in October interim superintendent Jazz Parks was appointed by the Ann Arbor Board of Education. [33] [34]
Gaza ceasefire resolution
On January 18, 2024, Ann Arbor Public Schools approved a resolution that called for a ceasefire in Gaza, due to the Gaza war while also "encouraging its teachers to discuss the conflict" in classrooms. The approval came after 120 people gave commentary both in support, and opposition, of the resolution. [35]
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