4/28/05: Channels 4 and 7, Detroit, cover the endangered species story.

4/18/05: The District met with the Michigan DNR today to try to come up with some mitigation effort that can save the animal. Many experts think it is impossible.

4/15/05: Until today, the School District had refused to stop their effort to move the wetland, despite citizen protest. Work has now stopped on the site.

4/14/05: On 4/8, an endangered species found on site!! Learn about it and read the comments by the Superintendent aimed at downplaying its importance.

4/13/05: Several people spoke out about the ludicrous plans that the School District is scrambling to invent to try to handle the endangered species (Ambystoma texanum) that was found on the site during what was already a silly plan to try to mitigate (aka move) the bio-diverse wetland in the middle of the property. Facts that were given that were learned from several herpetologists and experts fell on deaf ears. President Karen Cross then tried to spin the reality by reading a statement that was a confused string of wishful thinking. She said the species may or may not be endangered (it is certainly endangered). She said it occurred in other states (does that give them the right to destroy them here?). She said that the DNR has approved the mitigation plan (there is no current mitigation plan that will safely move these animals). The District is clearly scrambling.

4/8/05: State endangered species (Ambystoma texanum) is found on the site. Despite this, the District's workers continue to trample through the mud trying to catch frogs, snakes and salamanders so they can be transported to a "new" pond, since this one needs to move for the 800 parking spaces slated for the site.

3/21/05: The Ann Arbor City Council voted to disregard its own Planning Commission's concerns about the environment and traffic. Read about it here.

2/23/05: The Ann Arbor Township Board met on February 23, 2005, and voted to table the release of the land for the proposed school because too many questions remain unanswered: about traffic safety, the environment, and even about the legai issues involved in whether the school district must comply with local ordinances concerning "health, safety, and welfare" (which would apply to traffic and the environment). Read the Ann Arbor News article about the 2/23/05 vote.

2/15/05: The Ann Arbor City Planning Commission met on February 15, 2005, and voted the following: On whether to recommend to approve or deny annexation: (since the commission coiuld not reach the 2/3 majority needed, the recommendation to Council would be) Deny; On whether to recommend to approve or deny the zoning and area plan: Deny; On a resolution to support legislation at the State level to remove school board exemption from local zoning ordinances. Yes (unanimous)

12/8/04: The public commentary at the regular Board meeting was taken up by a concerted effort of members of a group of Newport Creek residents. They blindly complimented the District and the Board on the plan for the proposed high school. Though the site is begging for, at the very least, bus access from the east side and there is no reason not to mitigate the traffic impact on the west, neither the group nor the District will discuss it. The speakers' fauning over the Administration and the Board lends credence to the rumor that a deal was struck between the Administration and the group.

11/17/04: A very large group of residents attended the Board meeting. Every last person giving public commentary spoke vehemently against the proposed high school site. People who had never attended meetings of the Board were flabbergasted at the lack of interest and history of lack of interest the District and Board have had in public input. Comments concerned traffic, environment, student achievemnt and, once again the Sierra Club was represented by Bill Rodgers who spoke and asked for an easement to the environmentally sensitive areas of the site.

11/8/04: Another neighborhood meeting was held during which the building and the traffic simulation were presented to neighbors. There were many questions and much discussion, heated at times. The frustration exhibited by some attendees because of continuing vague data and presentations was written off by some residents of the Newport Creek subdivision who are happy their neighborhood, at least for now, will not be affected by the traffic nightmare that is foreseen.

11/3/04: Board meeting again with negative comments from the public. The traffic study from MCI was presented along with a traffic simulation. The simulation only showed a ten minute interval from 7:00 am to 7:10 am and seemed to have several flaws. The study also has flaws, not the least of which is that there is no mention of safety in the study. A couple of representatives from the Washtenaw County Road Commission (WCRC) were present and though the Board seemed to think the traffic study and the WCRC said everything was in order, it was clear that the Board only heard what they wanted to hear.

10/27/04: Another Board meeting with ardent comments from the public. Some had to do with traffic, some with environment, but most ardent were the ones that had to do with the Board's keeping information from the public and its moving along without studies to support its plan. Find out how to view the meeting.

10/23/04: Michael Kielb led a birding walk for 25 people. Everyone got to see the site and learn about the birds found on the site and how the site supports it.

10/22/04: The Washtenaw County Road Commission (WCRC) retracts its request for a 2nd entrance to the site simply because the AAPS said it doesn't need it (with no completed traffic studies). The WCRC also says that it will not review any traffic studies other than the District's contractor's study because it might impact the developer's (the District's) timeline. In other words, the WCRC is openly ignoring information that might contradict the AAPS. The WCRC also tells CRS that there is no need to get an independent traffic study (beyond the one from the District's hired contractor, MCI, because the WCRC will not look at it. The reason given: because it can not evaluate another study and still meet the developer's timeline!

10/18/04: Citizens for Responsible Schools retains top law firm to help it protect the environment, ensure safety at the site, and to help enforce the FOIAs that CRS has had to serve the District with in order to get public information.

10/13/04: The 9/20/04 CRS letter to the Sierra Club is now on this web site. Click here to read the letter reporting on the walk on the site with Tilton, the environmental consultant and the non-answers we are getting from the Superintendent.

10/7/04: We've learned from our representative on the Site Planning Committee of the Board, that the committee has no power to affect decisions.

10/2/04: Dr. Tony Reznicek led a botanic walk on a beautiful fall day. 41 people were in attendance. Everyone got to see the woods, the wetlands, including the one which is planned to be moved, up close and through the eyes of one of the top botanists in Michigan.

9/22/04: At the Board meeting, all but one of the citizens giving commentary were negative about the high school. Among them were an aquatic ecologist, a UM Business School professor, a lawyer, and educator, and several others, not the least of which was the co-director of the local chapter of the Sierra Club (see the Sierra Club's letter). In a telling show of lack of confidence in the data the Board is getting from the Administration and the contractors, the Board voted to postpone payment to the contractors. The architect:

• was asked to give expert opinions about traffic control and safety.
• told the Board that no one has communicated with enforcement or policing agencies that might have jurisdiction in the area where the school is proposed.
• admitted that no one conducted full traffic safety studies before choosing the site for the proposed school and before having a ballot voted on because it would have been too expensive and would have been for naught had the voters said no.

9/21/04: A very good turn out of about 150 concerned residents attended a meeting at Forsythe School, where the Superintendent and the contractors for the project presented the latest plan diagram. Members of various neighborhood groups and other groups, including Citizens for Responsible Schools, gave their views about the impending traffic nightmare and environmental losses, about the demographic issues and the heretofore sad state of District and Board communication with the public.

9/19/04: The Board sent a packet, as an official written response, to some of those in attendance at the 8/16/04 neighborhood meeting. Many questions and concerns were voiced there and the packet did a poor job at answering even those that it does address. Unfortunately, the Board has not seen fit to put their "response" on their website. See the weak responses, dated 6/2/04, to an earlier meeting.

9/18/04: Another accident on Maple Road. A teenager goes too fast to make a turn and winds up tottering on a boulder, about to go into a ditch.

9/15/04: A botanical tour of the site has been scheduled for October 2, 2004. Check the Tours page for more information.

9/10/04: Representatives from the Citizens for Responsible Schools walked the site with Laura Hagan, the Bond Project Director hired by the AAPS and Don Tilton of Tilton & Associates, Inc. (the firm handling the wetlands resource management for the project).

9/1/04: About 50 citizens attended the School Board meeting on 9/1/04. Read about it in the Ann Arbor News on MLive. About a dozen people spoke about their sincere and strong concerns with the proposed high school site's impact on traffic, safety and several other issues in relation to the school. Many speakers were met with applause and in fact there was a standing ovation at the end of the public comment period. A formidable force. Unfortunately, the Superintendent later read a prepared statement claiming that the AAPS was in fact taking care of all proper studies, traffic and environmental, and concluded with his commitment to the schedule and the reiteration of the mantra "On time, under budget, ... and no surprises." By no means have all surveys and studies been performed.
Rebroadcasts of the were seen on Public Access Channel CTN 18 on Thurs. 9/2/04 at 1:30 pm, Sat. 9/4/04 at 9:00 am, and Sun. 9/5/04 at 2:00 pm.

9/1/04: The District does not plan to even begin defining boundaries of the areas in Ann Arbor from where students will be drawn for this school until the fall of 2005, with a final announcement in the fall of 2006. How can the Board have determined that 80% of the traffic will come in from the south on Maple Road and 20% from the north (as was stated on 8/16/04), if it is not known where the traffic will come from? What other numbers can't we trust?

 8/26/04: The CRS met Thursday, August 26, at 7:30 pm. About 45 people were in attendance. The plan's rushed timeline was discussed. The board has been invited to visit this website. We welcome comments from the Board on any of its content so that we can keep the evaluation of the process on track.

 8/24/04: The Board has given us a copy of the Tilton & Associates Preliminary Ecology Assessment, dated July 30, 2004, based on a site walkthrough. The document is general, with no details, but we are studying it now.

 8/16/04: Members of CRS were present at the School Board meeting held for residents at Forsythe School on August 16. Many residents made comments at the microphone. The overwhelming majority expressed concern with traffic patterns, safety of students and motorists, light and sound pollution in the area. One young resident (approximately 12 years old) even wondered why so much of the land was to be taken up with ball diamonds, practice fields and the football stadium. Read more about the plan for the school and its rushed timeline.

Check back often.

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