Editor's Note: from time to time we make the decision to run a letter to the editor anonymously. In this case we are doing so due to the author's genuine fear of retaliation.
Content Warning: This article contains references to physical abuse of a young child with autism in Ann Arbor Public Schools. Some of the links on this article also contain videos of the assault itself.
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A recent lawsuit against Ann Arbor Public Schools revealed that, in 2021 Rochanda Jefferson, a bus aide, assaulted a 7 year old boy with autism. This happened on an AAPS bus run by Durham School Services. There were multiple witness report yet the bus aide was allegedly allowed to continue to supervise him and other children for weeks after the incident. The district administration failed in its duty to report any suspicion of child abuse immediately. This crime, and the district's response, are evidence of a failure of leadership at a district level. We as a community must act and make changes to ensure it is never allowed to happen again. AAPS leadership may not have physically struck the child themselves, but they are accountable for their failure to act.
There must be consequences for those who are in a position to have done more. Those who could have broken the chain of abuse but chose to remain silent, or worse, covered up or downplay the abuse. It is time to call upon Superintendent Jeanice Swift to resign, or if she refuses, be terminated for cause. The School Board, which has a duty to oversee the district's leadership, must act. To do so, they must hear from families and the AAPS community to make it clear we no longer find this leadership acceptable.
The board can be contacted at
boe@aaps.k12.mi.us. The next m
eeting is on August 23rd at 6pm, 3700 Earhart Road, where the Board will perform an evaluation of Superintendent Swift's performance. Those wishing to provide public comment must sign up in advance at this site.
An Overview of the Timeline of the District Response as alleged:
- Since 2020 - Rochanda Jefferson is moved around on AAPS buses 3 times over a year and a half, once after threatening a teacher
- 12/14/2021 - Jefferson, an aide on a special needs bus, assaults a young boy with autism, on a bus with other special needs students.
- 12/15/2021 - Multiple witnesses notify the staff and leadership at AAPS of the assault
- 12/15/2021 - Staff notifies the principal at Carpenter Elementary by written report
- 12/15/2021 - Report filed with Child Protective Services (CPS) by an unidentified person
- 12/16/2021 - The child's teacher contacts mom to say she is unhappy that Jefferson remains on the child's bus
- ~4 weeks later - AAPS administration reviews tape of assault and removes aide from bus, and files report with CPS
- 1/18/2022 - Child's teacher emails Carpenter Elementary principal that she feels she can no longer keep the assault from the child's mother
- 1/19/2022 - Carpenter Elementary Principal emails mother to notify her of "incidents" involving her son
- 3/15/2022 - Police inform mother of assault charges, provide with video, the first time she learns the extent of the violence against her child.
- 6/28/2023 - Jefferson is convicted of 4th degree Child Abuse in criminal court
- 7/26/2023 - lawsuit naming AAPS, Durham School Services, and Principal filed
Note, nowhere in this timeline was the AAPS Board of Education notified of the assault. Multiple sources indicate that the Board was not notified until after the lawsuit was filed last month.
Administrative Response: Smokescreens and Deception
Under the
leadership of Superintendent Dr. Jeanice Swift, the Ann Arbor Public Schools administration has developed an organizational culture of self-preservation. As many AAPS parents know, district press releases and emails are carefully crafted to say a lot of words without acknowledging any culpability when something goes wrong. In this particular circumstance, the press release states that AAPS "removed the offending individual from duty on
the day the incident was observed on the video and contacted Child Protective Services immediately." Note the language, meant to imply the district acted immediately. In fact, the lawsuit reveals the district waited 5 weeks until it viewed the video of the incident, and forced this child, and the children who witnessed the violence witnesses, to ride the bus
17 more times with the now-convicted abuser. Rather than come clean and allow healing to begin, district leadership has doubled down, saying it followed appropriate procedures.
How can these procedures be appropriate if a child has been assaulted, it is reported immediately to leadership, and this child was forced to continue to ride the bus with his abuser 17 times?
Beyond the mishandling of the incident itself, there is the district's incredibly poor communication with the boy's mother, Jaime Nelson. This looks like it could be a deliberate coverup. After the assault occurred on December 14th, it took the administration until January 19th to communicate with Nelson. Even then, it was a smokescreen of half-truths. The Principal of Carpenter Elementary sent Nelson an email full of passive voice, avoiding blame and providing no hard details. The email said "there have been two incidents shared that have resulted in unsafe conditions" for her son. Nelson asked to see a copy of the video of the incident and was rebuffed, only getting access months later when police became involved.
And finally, district leadership has not given any indication that children affected by this assault, either directly or as witnesses, have been appropriately debriefed or counseled. After assaulting the young boy, Jefferson intimidated everyone else on the bus too, saying "That’s OK he’s going to jail. You’re old enough to go to jail. You don’t have to be no certain age to go to jail, they got children's jail for kids." A lot of children on the spectrum take these threats literally, especially at this early age. As witnesses to this violence, the district owes these families the clarity and resources they need to process what was likely a traumatic event. Has this taken place? The district press releases refer only to the investigation of the event itself, not how it helped children and families cope with the emotional fallout. Given the fact that the event was hidden from the boy's mother for weeks, it appears likely that the other families were also kept in the dark.
AAPS district leadership's mishandling of the aftermath of this assault has compounded the suffering of these vulnerable children and their families. Such a failure of leadership, and a failure of organizational culture, cannot go without consequences for those in whom we place such trust. When AAPS should have provided healing and clarity to the affected families, it sought to deny responsibility, bury the details, and eventually hide behind a smokescreen of carefully-worded press releases.
Either district leadership incorrectly believes it acted appropriately, or they are actively trying to escape blame. Both are unacceptable.
As news broke, it also became apparent that the School Board had been kept in the dark regarding this case. School Board President Rima Mohammad tweeted that the board "recently learned of the bus incident that occurred in December 2021," while trustee Jeff Gaynor asked questions in a Facebook post about why there was such a delay in reporting the incident:
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| A statement from Board President Rima Mohammad, alluding to being recently informed of the student's assault |
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| A statement from Trustee Jeff Gaynor, expressing frustration over the statement released by AAPS leadership |
It is time to hold district leadership accountable. It's time Superintendent Swift stepped down. Email the board or sign up for public commentary and let your voice be heard.
A Time to Live our Values
This is far from the only recent evidence of incompetence by AAPS leadership. It's not even the first or second time a child with autism has been assaulted by staff at AAPS. Whether it's the recent botched investigation into allegations of a hostile racist environment at Pioneer High, or the many recent examples of children on the autism spectrum being denied required IEP services, Ann Arbor Schools has a long way to go when it comes to proving it means it, when it says "we live by the deeply held core values of welcome, embrace and celebration of all in our community." It is time we sought new leadership for our schools, and demand an administration that stands for accountability and openness.
We can move on from this, but not by forgetting it happened. To begin a culture of open and honest communication, and begin healing from these traumatic events, we need a new start.
The AAPS Board of Education can be reached at
boe@aaps.k12.mi.us.
