Who we are

We are a group of Thurston parents, school staff, and neighbors who are opposed to the current construction plans for a new Thurston Elementary as they build upon green spaces for play and nature. The plans include building upon portions of the Thurston Nature Center, an environmental education center.We are in favor of a new school building, but believe that the current construction plans are poorly conceived and not reflective of the unique considerations and features of the Thurston site, its natural environment and community.

How we got here...

In 2019, the voters of Ann Arbor generously approved a record-setting $1 Billion Bond to help upgrade Ann Arbor Public Schools buildings. Thurston Elementary was selected to receive a brand new school building because its 1960's construction hasn't aged well and the school population has outgrown the building. 

The case for building a new building for Thurston is clear and compelling. 

What's not clear or compelling is the plan for actually getting the work done. 

There has been a general lack of transparency, community involvement, and objective oversight when it comes to how the Bond has been managed. This has raised some serious concerns among community members and parents at the affected schools as AAPS and their partners have started to socialize their plans. 

For Thurston, the current plan involves constructing the new school directly behind the existing building, which means: 

• Kids will be on an active construction site for YEARS, posing significant learning and safety risks. Between construction of the new building, demolition of the old building, and construction of a geothermal substation, this disruption could last 3-4 years. 
• Playgrounds will be permanently removed, replacing expansive green spaces with cramped play structures sandwiched between brick walls and cars. 
• Soccer fields will be completely lost during construction, and replaced with a far smaller "play field" surrounded by parking lots, and the bus and driveline loop.  
• Fragile habitats and mature trees will be destroyed in and around the Thurston Nature Center, including the Oak Savannah, butterfly gardens, and marshland. 
• Buses and cars will be rerouted to hug backyards and play areas, creating a congested, vehicle-centric environment for students and neighbors instead of the park-like experience we enjoy today.

Parents, neighbors, school staff and community members have all spoken out to ask questions and raise concerns about not only the current plan, but also the way in which that plan was developed. These concerns have been met with resistance and silence from our elected officials. 

We are demanding that AAPS: 

1. Pause the plans as they’ve been laid out for New Thurston until proper due diligence can be done that weighs all considerations and alternatives. 
2. Survey all current Thurston parents to get a sense of their support for the current plan (not whether they support building a new school, that ship has sailed) and any concerns they may have. 
3. Conduct a thorough Environmental Impact Analysis using an unaffiliated third party to show, with unbiased data, what the impact of the current plan would be on the surrounding habitats, waterways, and wildlife, involving EGLE and applying for permits as necessary. 
4. Appoint an oversight committee for the Bond that does not involve any party that stands to financially benefit from how these taxpayer dollars are allocated. Ideally, this committee would be composed of BOE members, parents of current AAPS students, and other relevant community members. 
5. Consider an alternate plan that would include staging, get our Thurston community out of the existing building in the same 2 years as the District's plan and into New Thurston in 4, allowing us to preserve playgrounds, soccer fields, and the Thurston Nature Center by building the new building on the same footprint as our current building.