Superintendent Patricia Green addresses the class of 2012 during a commencement ceremony at the Convocation Center at Eastern Michigan University on June 7, 2012.
Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com file photo
She gave no reason, other than plans to retire, for stepping down at this time.
The superintendent submitted her letter of resignation to board President Deb Mexicotte early Thursday morning at the end of the board's regular meeting. AAPS officials announced Green's departure to the public in an email at about 5 p.m. Thursday. Both Green and Mexicotte issued a statement to the community.
Green's statement to the public said she will be retiring after 43 years in public education and indicated she plans to spend her retirement traveling, reconnecting with friends and family, whom she has neglected, and doing some reflective writing about her experiences in education.
Ann Arbor Superintendent Resigns
Neither the formal resignation letter, which was obtained by AnnArbor.com, nor Green's statement to the community, elaborates on her decision to retire. Attempts to contact Green Thursday and Friday for an interview have been unsuccessful.
Last fall, Green, members of her executive cabinet and the finance department began moving the district away from a method of budgeting called "bottom-line accountability" toward "line-by-line accountability" — the first step in zero-based budgeting. In an interview with AnnArbor.com in early March, Green said the district is in the process of changing all its budget documents and tools to account for each expenditure under every department and building budget.
She explained zero-based budgeting forces officials to identify and prioritize school programs and expenditures. Then each year, the line item starts at zero and "gets funded to the target," Green said. She added it is like turning the budget process on its head — justifying expenditures rather than debating what to cut.
Green wrote in her resignation letter dated April 10 that zero-based budgeting is "absolutely essential to the future of the district." She also stated she is "certain" Chief Financial Officer Nancy Hoover will be able to "lead the charge" on this initiative.
Green appointed Hoover, director of finance, to the CFO position in late February, giving her additional responsibilities, after Deputy Superintendent for Operations Robert Allen resigned to take a job in North Carolina. Green decided not to refill Allen's position and said she wanted to review how the district is organized. It is unclear how Green's resignation will impact her preliminary plans to restructure the district's central administration.
Green, whose salary is $245,000, signed a five-year contract when she came to the district in July 2011 from North Allegheny School District in Pennsylvania, where she had served as superintendent since 2002. Prior to working in Pennsylvania, Green worked for Prince George's County Public Schools in Maryland. She and her husband still have a home in Maryland, where her husband lives and owns an orthodontics and periodontics practice.
Read Green's formal letter of resignation to the board:
Dear President Mexicotte:
Please accept my resignation as Superintendent of Schools of the Ann Arbor Public Schools, effective 90 days from today. I plan to retire at that time after 43 years as a professional educator in public education. I have thoroughly enjoyed my entire career and I thank you and the Board for the opportunity to serve this community.
I urge the Board to follow up on my assessment that the District must move from bottom line accountability to line by line accountability and to fully implement the template developed under my leadership to utilize zero based budgeting (ZBB). Currently, we have put in place the action steps to continue to implement line by line accountability, which have been underway since October 2012, and I am certain that our Chief Financial Officer will lead the charge to migrate fully to ZBB. I believe this is absolutely essential to the future of the District.
Sincerely,
Patricia P. Green, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Ann Arbor Public Schools
Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.