Ann Arbor school board to vote on resolution for ceasefire in Gaza

Ann Arbor Public Schools' board is scheduled to consider a resolution Wednesday night supporting a cease-fire in Gaza and Israel.

While city governments across the country have made calls for a cease-fire, the Free Press could find no other example of a school district in Michigan making a similar resolution. Ann Arbor Public Schools is likely one of the first in the state. The resolution included in Wednesday's agenda "expresses support for a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel," calls for educational dialogue about the conflict among students and staff and supports the "release of hostages and political prisoners."

In October, board President Rima Mohammad and member Jeff Gaynor published a joint statement about the conflict, vowing to stand together — Mohammad is Palestinian and Gaynor is Jewish.

The resolution to be considered at a 7 p.m. board meeting was discussed during a Dec. 20 meeting. Board member Torchio Feaster said in December that he wanted to consider the resolution in January because he wanted more time to consider the several dozen messages from the community about the resolution.

Ann Arbor's City Council passed a cease-fire resolution on Jan. 11, The Michigan Daily reported.

While they are largely charged with directing school district operations, school boards have long waded into heated and sometimes political conflicts. In 2020, several Michigan school boards including Detroit Public Schools Community District and the Lansing School District adopted antiracism resolutions, committing to eliminating systemic racism.

As the pandemic placed more pressure on school districts, boards in some have become fraught political battlegrounds. School board elections have increasingly represented national, more-politicized races, research published in the journal State Politics and Policy Quarterly found.

Board member Susan Ward Schmidt on Dec. 20 said she felt voting on statements such as a cease-fire didn't feel like business to be considered by a school board.

"To me, this is not under the purview of what I was elected to do, I was not asked to come here on this board and to weigh in on world events," she said. "I didn't come here to use this as a political platform. ... I'm here on a nonpartisan board."

Gaynor said during the same board meeting that the resolution, which encourages educators to facilitate dialogue about the conflict, still relates to Ann Arbor students' education.

Aside from the resolution, Ann Arbor Public Schools is facing upheaval with the resignation of Superintendent Jeanice Swift in September and turmoil around the assault of a child with disabilities on a school bus.

Because of frigid temperatures, Ann Arbor public schools closed Wednesday. But it appeared Wednesday's meeting was still on at Pioneer High School's auditorium and will be livestreamed here.

Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ann Arbor school board to vote on Israel-Gaza ceasefire resolution