Ann Arbor Public Schools board members signaled they want to keep the $100,000 threshold at which district spending requires board approval, pushing back on a proposal to raise it to $250,000 as the district navigates a projected $4.27 million budget gap.

The discussion took place at the Governance Committee's Monday, Aug. 3 meeting, where trustees reviewed a policy change that would have more than doubled the approval threshold. The increase was part of a broader policy sweep the district began earlier this year, but board President Torchio Feaster and Trustee Rima Mohammad said they preferred leaving the cap where it is.

"I mean, literally, we're at a point where we're like, 'Every penny does count,' you know?" Mohammad said at the committee meeting, according to the Ann Arbor News.

Mohammad said raising the threshold would send a message of less oversight on smaller contracts and that she didn't see a problem with the current policy. Feaster agreed, saying there would be "an appetite for the board to keep it low."

No formal vote was taken.

Superintendent Jazz Parks said inflation was the primary reason for the recommended change. The threshold language was last updated in 2014. Parks noted the district already brings the vast majority of contracts before the board regardless of size, citing a recent $157,288 contract with University of Michigan MedSport for athletic trainers at Skyline and Huron high schools as an example that exceeded the current cap.

Officials directed executive assistant Amy Osinski to note the discussion and keep the practice unchanged when the policy sweep returns for a second briefing.

That second briefing is expected at the board's next regular meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 7 p.m. at the Earhart Administration Building, 3700 Earhart Road.

The spending threshold discussion comes amid broader financial pressures on the district. The board approved the FY2026-27 budget unanimously on Wednesday, June 17, but AAPS faces a projected $4.27 million shortfall for the school year, according to a separate MLive report on the district's sinking fund renewal. Teachers have been working without a new contract since December 2025, with negotiations between the district and the Ann Arbor Education Association now in their eighth month. A sinking fund millage renewal at 2.4031 mills passed the Tuesday, Aug. 4 primary with roughly 74% support and heads to the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election ballot.

Earlier this year, hundreds of parents, educators and others signed a letter calling on AAPS to pause major spending until the district shared three years of more detailed budgets and the teacher contract dispute was resolved. At the Wednesday, June 3 board meeting, parent Angela Prince proposed a Citizens Financial Advisory Committee, saying community members with financial expertise were ready to volunteer.

The Wednesday, Aug. 12 meeting will be the board's first chance to formally act on keeping the $100,000 threshold in place.