We asked our Thurston Teachers what they thought...

 "As a Thurston teacher, I would like to express my concerns with the current plan for the new Thurston. I recognize and support the need for a new building. I know firsthand how inadequate the current building is for the number of students and staff. Yet my concerns are with the process, communication with staff and community members, and current course of plan. This project is being rushed through and valid concerns have not been addressed. When staff members have tried to express concerns about the design of the building, it has been disregarded and dismissed. Legitimate concerns about the safety and well-being of our students are not being addressed (for example the new recess area in front of the school and the building being moved much closer to the pond.) I am terrified about the idea of trying to teach my students on an active construction site. How will I be able to keep students engaged with the noise and disruption? How can I keep my students safe during recess, arrival, and dismissal? I believe that viable options have been brought up to have Thurston staged in another building during the construction process to address these concerns. Please listen to teachers, families, and community members. We all want what is best for the students. I love the Thurston community and I am disheartened at the thought of what is happening to our beloved school."

"The whole process has been disappointing to say the least. I was hopeful at first, thinking that we would have a school that we would “help” to build by providing our input and explaining what works and what wouldn’t work. I quickly realized that there was already an agenda in place and our input fell on deaf ears. It sent me back to my years spent in the business world where excuses and reasons were disguised by the buzzwords flying around. At several meetings, concerns like storage space were brought up by staff, only to be added to the input that fell on deaf ears. The elephant in the room was, “Where was the building going to be constructed?” We knew that the building would be near the pond, but it was never discussed exactly where by the pond it would be. We all speculated about the pond and nature center being in danger, with our speculations sadly becoming true when the final plan was revealed. What a waste of time and energy to pretend that our input mattered when in the end it never did. Not to mention the plan to have an active construction site during the days when school will be in session? We already lived through the construction of the cottages, and that was a nightmare. Magnify that building by the scale of the new building and that will be dangerous. We also had a timeline delayed for the cottages, with teachers not moving into the classrooms until well into the school year. Magnify that by the timeline for the new building, too. Disruptive is an understatement. I'm beyond feeling disappointed, defeated, and being ignored. I'm mad."

"While it is true that the bond team has kept teachers updated, the majority of the latest meetings have been just that, updates and presentations on what they are doing. They have left very little place for interjections (and this might be rightfully so seeing that most teachers have lost interest in their plans/presentations, since they don't truly take our thoughts/concerns into account). Also, most of the meetings have steered away from discussing outside plans and the effects of the construction on the surrounding areas. Instead, they have tried to remain on the inside feel and look of the school. Since around the 3rd meeting, it was evident that teachers' voices and concerns were not being taken into "true" consideration. We could feel and sense the agenda being pushed forward regardless of what teachers thought or cared about. This disregard made many teachers "check out" mentally during these meetings and not fully engage any longer. Rather than putting our energy towards something we have no say in, we instead "smile and nod" to whatever is being said in the meeting and whatever will get the spiel over quicker. Our regular staff meetings have been taken over and we have other pressing issues and concerns that we could have dealt with (lots of leadership changes and staff turnover makes for meetings being essential). Even though teachers "play nice" by smiling and nodding, please believe that many of us are not happy with the building project and its roll out. We choose to fight other fights (i.e., budget, healthcare, lack of filled TA or special ed positions…) and hope that our parents' voices will carry loud enough for someone higher up to hear and win. Teachers have stressed the importance of keeping our surrounding nature (TNC) at the forefront of planning and incorporating it into the heart of the new school, to help preserve it. Teachers have voiced their concerns about the annoyance/disturbance of construction and the impact it will have on our instruction. "

"We have always gotten the impression that meeting with the staff was more of a performative exercise. It was very obvious that the district had already made decisions as to what the new building would look like, how it would be configured, and where it would be built without any of our input. When asked several times over several months “where will this building be built on the property?”, the company spokespeople were coy and would not give us any answers. We found out where it was going to be built when the Thurston community did."

"Since the start of the planning process for this new building, teachers were told that our input was important and would be used. But every time a teacher voiced a concern in a meeting with the planning committee, it was brushed off. We were basically told that they knew what we needed better than we do. Teachers also voiced serious concern about the new construction impacting the nature center, and were told there was no plan to encroach on that space. Now, knowing how close the construction will be to the school, I'm dreading the impact it will have. Many students are sensitive to noise, or have asthma and allergies that are bound to be affected by the dust construction will kick up. Not only that, but as a teacher of young students, I know how distracting anything happening outside the window can be. It just doesn't seem possible for students to get the kind of quality learning and play time they deserve under those conditions. 

"Thurston Nature Center is an integral part of Thurston School. The current plans for building new Thurston will compromise the environment of not only the Nature Center, but also of Thurston’s students and staff. Monday is lawn mowing day at Thurston. For an hour to an hour and a half of this fair-weather weekly event, students’ learning is disturbed. Students stare out the window and teachers need to raise their voices to be heard over the noise. Not to mention the need to herd students at morning recess away from fast moving tractor mowers. To think that years of daily construction noise and bustle will be tenable for a learning environment is absurd. This plan is unsafe. Please rethink how this will impact the school community."

"As a teacher at Thurston Elementary School, I have become increasingly concerned about the current plan for the construction of the new Thurston building. Of special concern to me is the lack of an explanation of how we will ensure student safety during the course of the current construction plan. The only access path to reach the proposed construction area cuts in between the school building at the playgrounds where our 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students play. I worry what it will mean for the safety of our students to have multiple construction vehicles use this road daily and I have yet to hear an adequate explanation from our distinct leadership or school board on the steps that will be taken to ensure students are not endangered during the current construction plan. I have also been disappointed by the dismissive and at times even disrespectful treatment members of the Thurston community have been subjected to by members of the school board and central administration for voicing their concerns about a matter of great importance to them and their neighborhood. It paints all members of Ann Arbor Public School system in a bad light and risks tarnishing public opinion against future bond requests that AAPS may put forward to a public light."

"I’m a new teacher at Thurston, and I have used the Thurston Nature Area several times. I am outraged by our district for a million reasons. They haven’t been listening to teachers, and now, they aren’t listening to parents either. So many people have invested decades of their time to create a magical LEARNING environment for our more than 500 students. While I understand a new school is needed, it seems that it would be in everyone’s best interest to work together, listening to the people who LIVE in the Thurston area. The district is treating parents/neighbors as if they were thorns, rather than roses with historical knowledge and a high interest in making Thurston the best school it can be. The district is making so many decisions that aren’t best practice. We are losing amazing staff to other districts, teachers are retiring in order to find other jobs that will compensate them for their worth, parents are choosing to take their kids to other districts, and morale is at an all time low. It’s getting difficult to say positive things about the Ann Arbor Public Schools, and that’s tragic. I implore the district to listen to the Thurston community and go back to the drawing board WITH them. Please."

"I do have a preference for staging if it is done somewhere close by so that we don’t have to learn with the distraction of construction."

"We need a new school. We are not disputing that, but we don’t want it to be at the cost of the Nature Center, nor at the cost of having ongoing health and safety concerns for students and staff, the community and the environment over several years and we want to ensure there is the maximum amount of greenspace available for students to run and be kids.

The Thurston Nature Center should be protected at all costs.The Thurston Nature Center is a unique gift and one that makes Thurston Elementary special. How many schools have a natural learning area that students can learn about ecosystems, the environment and biomes at their fingertips without going on a field trip off campus? The answer is not many. In a fairly urban area, the nature center is home to many animals, birds and plants that many of our students may not ever get to see in their natural environments such as turtles, red tail hawks, and cattails. Many that likely will become disrupted with the current plans for New Thurston, some by the physical placement of the building but others by the increased noise and vibration during the construction phase but beyond the construction phase throughout the school day after construction is complete. Then there is also the light pollution that comes with the new building at night that will also disrupt the occupants of the nature center. 

Go to the nature center and observe its beauty, magic and gifts that it offers. There is so much that the nature center offers and it’s such a unique and special place it’s hard to put into words why even giving up “a few feet” is not negotiable.There is a sense of calm for anyone entering the Thurston Nature Center. The nature center promotes a sense of community and offers families opportunities to strengthen relationships, for students to start and maintain relationships outside of school and in addition to the learning opportunities there are opportunities to improve mental and physical health. This winter families can be observed ice skating and playing hockey daily. You can also see people walking their dogs, cross country skiing, biking, running and walking through the nature center at various times of the day, week and seasons as appropriate. During the school year, frequently staff can be observed spending their lunches in the nature center, walking, running or simply sitting at one of the sitting areas and taking it in while having a peaceful lunch, taking care of their physical and mental health. 

Three years of construction on campus is a lot. I know that a project of this magnitude takes time and that is why we are asking for a pause to make sure all options are considered and the best plan for everyone can be put into place. Do we know what the impact of extensive construction will have on the local ecosystems, plants and animals, not to mention the humans that live and go to school there? No matter what contractors say, there will be considerable noise while the new building is being built and they can’t really control that. Everyone will be impacted by the noise. Constant noise is not conducive to student learning and while we can do things to mitigate noise overall it will likely impact student learning. We also have a significant population of students with Autism on our campus as we host 3 self-contained Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) programs and have several students who are also included in their general education classrooms full time who will be significantly impacted by the noise of construction.

There are already many students and staff that have health and wellness issues that the ongoing construction will likely exacerbate. The ongoing construction is likely to create excess dust and pollutants in the air causing issues with respiratory and cardiovascular health as well as causing irritation with eyes, nose and throat. Excess noise and vibrations can trigger migraines, and other mental health issues. Contractor’s can’t control any of these aspects. While air purifiers may be a way to mitigate air pollutants, they are also an additional source of noise which can also be problematic. 

At the end of the day, I want everyone, people, plants and animals to be safe and healthy through the entirety of the construction of New Thurston; I want the Nature Center to be preserved 100%. Slow down, consider the unique needs of the students of Thurston, the needs of the staff, the needs of the community and the needs of the environment around Thurston. We can’t plan for a future that doesn’t take all of these aspects into consideration. We can’t ask students to take care of the earth, if we can’t even pause long enough to preserve the gift that we have in the Thurston Nature Center."

"I am adding my voice to the other teachers, staff, families and community members sharing concern for the process surrounding the new Thurston build. As a staff member, I do not feel this process sufficiently and genuinely took in the input of all stakeholders, and I have concerns regarding various aspects surrounding the new construction, the siting of the new building, and aspects of the building design. Throughout our meetings with the builders, many staff members shared feedback and raised various concerns, however these concerns did not seem to be heard and felt brushed off and disregarded.  However, the valid and justified reaction from the community surrounding this process has brought light to many of these concerns that are also shared by staff. 

As a staff member, I am concerned for the health, safety and learning environment of students both during and after the construction. Having heard from others who have had experiences teaching on sites where there is active construction, I have heard about the concerns with air quality, noise, dust and distraction, in addition to a reduction in the use of school grounds for recess and other functions. From what I have heard, this will be true for a large majority of the current student’s elementary experience and I worry for our most vulnerable students navigating this, along with the added burden this will have on already overburdened staff. 

I am concerned for the placement of the building so close to our community’s treasured nature center. Watching our students interact with the nature center has been nothing short of magical and I cannot support anything that threatens to disrupt this space and these important integrated habitats. I am also concerned for the impact that years of construction so close to and in some places over the nature center, followed by a two-story building abutting the proposed reduced nature center will have on the patterns of the animals that also call this space their home. I do not believe we can rightfully call this a sustainable, green and climate friendly initiative when its very premise is centered around the disruption and destruction of established habitats and a decades old nationally recognized educational nature center. I wholly support staging Thurston for a more optimal placement of the building, that leaves enough of a natural buffer between the school and the nature center. Having our new school moved so close to a large body of water is a major safety concern, and I worry about the added liability of this as well. I also have additional concerns regarding several details of the design plan and hope that there can be future meetings to take into account teacher and community input regarding this aspect of the process. 

I appreciate your time in reading this and thank you for your service on our board of education. I recognize that our district has faced many challenges over the past decade, from budget shortfalls, to covid and am hopeful that in this new year, we can find ways to help to foster a collaborative relationship between all stakeholders, including the board, the teachers, families and community, in order to leverage the best possible outcome for our students."