SPI Insights

Michigan – The Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education reviewed a draft of the district’s 10-year capital spending plan for a portion of its $1 billion bond approved by voters in 2019.

If the final plan is approved by the board after two public hearings this month, then the district will start by focusing construction on the southeast area of the district.

The draft plan calls for building a new Mitchell Elementary to open in 2024 on the site of the current campus. Additional elementary schools are planned for Burns Park, Angell, Pittsfield, and Patengill to open between 2024 and 2027.

A feasibility study is planned in 2021 to determine options for staging areas for students while construction is underway in the northeast area of the district. Based upon the study results, work would be scheduled for Logan, King, and Thurston elementaries.

Southwest construction projects include improvements to Dicken and Lakewood elementaries as well as significant renovations to Eberwhite, Bach, and Lawton elementaries.

Projects in the northwest section of the district will begin later in the schedule. Among those efforts is work on the A2 STEAM and A2 Open campuses as well as Abbot, Haisley, and Wines elementaries.

In order to achieve minimal disruption to students as they progress through grade levels within the district, the plan sets a schedule that starts with construction at the elementary schools and then shifts to work on the high schools and ends with projects at the middle schools.

Intermediate-scale improvements are planned for several middle school campuses starting in 2029 at Clague, Scarlett and Tappan in 2030, and Forsythe in 2031. Major projects are scheduled for Slauson, Clague, Scarlett, Tappan, and Forsythe between 2029 and 2038.

The Pathways to Success high school will undergo renovations from 2022 to 2023 to transform it into a campus with a community college atmosphere and add a gymnasium. Significant work is planned at Pioneer, Community, and Huron high schools.