and appreciate your presence at this meeting of the Grand Rapids Public Schools Board of Education on Monday, May 12th, 2025. We respectfully request that you turn off your cellular phones and refrain from clapping, cheering, or making audible comments. We invite you
to make formal public comment during the designated times on either agenda items, non-aggenda items, or if you wish, on both. to do so. Please fill out the comment card and submit it to the board assistant or the public safety officers.
Comments are limited to three minutes. All right. Um, Trusty Rodriguez, can you take the role? All right. Trustee Moreno, present. Trustee Melton, present. Trustee Rodriguez is present. Trustee Williams,
absent. Trustee Williamson present. Trustee Davis present. Trustee Kilpatrick present. VP Wade present. And President Davis here. We have a quorum. Do I have a
motion to approve the agenda? Second. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? All right. Moving forward, we have celebrations. Dr. Roby,
good evening everyone and happy Monday. We have our first celebration which includes 61st district court essay award winners and director Jen Brock as well as Eric Vanderly will come forward to
share that announcement. Thank you very much uh President uh Davis and board members and Dr. Roby. Um I have with me Eric who will uh kind of go through uh two things tonight. So the first one being the 61st district court
essay award winner and then also the recognition of scholars for the seal of biiteracy. Thank you and good evening. It's my pleasure to introduce Miss Heather Lewis in a moment to come up and speak on behalf of her scholars. I wanted to
share that Miss Heather Lewis is a dedicated veteran of GRPS for over 20 years who is known for her innovative lesson plans and a welcoming classroom environment. Miss Lewis has been described by those who work with her as a true teacher leader and her lessons offer multiple different learning
opportunities where each scholar can be successful. One such opportunity included an essay contest held by the 61st District Court on National Law Day. Heather Lewis's class competed and three of her scholars won first, second, and third place in the contest. At this
moment, I'd like to invite Heather Lewis forward to introduce her scholars and describe their impressive accomplishments and to give an opportunity for their one of the winners to share their award-winning work. Um, Miss Heather Lewis, please.
Sure. Okay. I just feel more comfortable addressing an audience. Um, so the 61st District Court this year put out an essay contest for all of Grand Rapids public school sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. And my eighth graders decided
that they wanted to enter this contest. Uh the essay topic was the constitution's promise, out of many come one. And as um Eric stated, we won first, second, and third place at CA
[Applause] Frost. Um our first place winner won gift cards worth $250. Our second place winner won $150 and our third place winner won
$100 just for writing about something that we were already studying in 8th grade. And so they put 10 to paper and I was so proud that all three of them placed in this contest. Um I asked our three winners. I have one of them who
was able to make it tonight. Trent, if you would stand up. Uh Trent was our second place winner. Uh we also had Corwin McNe who couldn't make it and Dominic Henriette
[Applause] Jaw. and Dominic actually won a contest a couple of months ago for also creating a brochure about the founding documents. So, they're all amazing students. I asked Trent if he would read you his
paper. Now, mind you, he wrote this in probably two class periods, so maybe an hour total. Um, he was a little shy to come and read it for you, so I offered to read it for him.
um e floros uno or out of many one is used a lot in American government for many reasons. The constitution has followed this phrase since it was formed. But what does it mean? Well, it means that as a country, we are one. We as a people are one and we as a nation
are one. Our country fought for our independence. Our country has people who want to see a change in our world. Our country has established a government that no branch is stronger than another. Our country is formed to unite many others to become one and they look after
us. We are a united country by supporting all those from different backgrounds. We support those with struggles. We support all people from different cultures. We support people of different religions. And we support people with different views on our world.
Our country for hundreds of years has been letting the people of the states improve the constitution by making amendments. Our country has been making new laws to move away from the brutality of our early country. We have fought in many wars and proven that we are a
strong country capable of anything. Our country has been to has been through many wars throughout history. Our country has been through a civil war, a war of independence, a war on the ocean with Great Britain, a war throughout the world two times. Our
country has proven that we are a fully independent country, a strong country. Our country aids other countries when they are in need. Our country is capable of protecting our nation, capable of protecting our people, protecting our land, and hopefully protecting our
government. Our country has grown since we won our independence. Since then, our constitution has grown by having now everyone being included in elections who is above 18. It has grown by accepting everyone who is human as a person. It
has grown by letting others who want a new life in our country to enter and feel welcome here. Our country is 50 states. It has grown through its military and letting anyone who wants to be a soldier be a soldier. And our country has grown by letting anyone be
accepted for who they actually are be themselves. Our country has helped help has accepted help when we need it. We have made many allies throughout history and our country has become a powerful independent country that is capable of
quite literally everything. [Applause] It was an amazing amazing experience. Uh
the court came to our school. We had a big celebration, took a lot of pictures. They did a press release. Um and of course, we're hoping to participate in this contest next year, but I encourage anybody in eighth grade if they open it next year to
participate. I thought the topic was so fitting for what we're going through in our country today. And I just love how they made connections between historical knowledge and the present. Well done. I love my kiddos.
Thank you so [Applause] much. Our next recognition is our scholars receiving the seal of by literacy and um director Brock as well as Eric Vanderly
will do that presentation as well. Well, I'd uh like to share and celebrate the incredible work of this year's graduating seniors in earning their seal of biiteracy. The seal of bioliteracy, for those of you who don't know, is an award given to graduating seniors by the
Michigan Department of Education in recognition of attaining proficiency in English and one or more languages. Last year's 2024 graduating class from GRPS saw 94 seal of bioliteracy recipients, placing Grand Rapids in the top three
school districts in Michigan for scholars who earned their seal. While we wait for MDE to release their rankings for the class of 2025 across the state, I suspect our historically high standing will continue to be supported with the efforts of the 99
total recipients with this year's graduating seniors. Our graduating seal are those earning the seal earned ratings of profic proficiency in Hindi, French, Vietnamese, Kenyanda, Somali, and Spanish. This recognition is being
celebrated at senior awards nights and dinners across the district at Innovation Central, City High, Middle, CA Frost, Middle High, Up Prep, Museum High, Union, and Southwest Middle High Schools. Each senior will receive a seal of biolitery from the Michigan Department of Education to adhere to
their diploma as a permanent display of their accomplishments. The seal not only signifies their proficiency in multiple languages, but also provides future employers with a method of identifying people with language and biiteracy skills and provides colleges and
universities with a method to recognize and give credit to applicants for attainment of high level of skills in multiple languages. This esteemed honor was earned by these scholars with assistance from their schools, counselors,
teachers, and families. These 99 scholars are not only a point of pride for this year's graduating class, but serve as an excellent example for future GRPS scholars as they continue to set the high standard for success we've come to expect from our future leaders
leaving our schools. Thank you. [Applause] I just wanted to clarify. Are there any um awardees in the audience? I just wanted to acknowledge.
All right. All right. Congratulations. Congratulations. Okay, we will move on to our report of the student representatives to the board. Um, can we start with you, Fabiola? Um, sure. Okay. I wrote a little something
up that I'm going to read because it is my last meeting, but hello everyone. My name is Fabola Jugam and I'm a graduating senior at City High. Um, as I reflect on my last six years in GRPS, I just realized how everything basically worked together. Um, it went by so fast
and I can't believe I'm about to go to college and I'm not that anxious little seventh grader that uh started my first day at city. Um, my years in GRPS have been describing in one word great through uh though it's a simple word I do truly
believe encompasses how I feel about my time in the school district. Um, I've met all kinds of different people from different backgrounds and learned so much, not only from the teachers and the adults, but also the students that surround me. Um, I've been part of the
student, sorry, superintendent student advisory council. Say that five times fast. Um, since last year, and it's been the outlet for me to speak on any problems or good things I've seen within this district. Um, and I'm grateful that there's uh an area for student voices to
be heard and amplified. Um, through the Superintendent Student Advisory Council, I've been able to go to conferences like the Michigan Response to Hate Conference in Lancing. Um, there I was met with different leaders from different school district and I've heard um different
ways hate can be addressed in Michigan. And I was also given the opportunity to give a speech at the GRPS lunchon um which was a really great event. Um I'm forever grateful for the opportunities GRPS and City High has given me and leaving. One piece of advice I give is
to take risks and take advantage of opportunities given. Um those kind of go hand in hand. One of my favorite risks I've taken this year is applying to a West Point summer leaders experience. Um what am I doing at West Point? I'm not sure. But I went over the summer and uh
let's say I was surprised to get off the bus and have a surgeon in my face yelling at me to stand at the position of attention. But through there I uh learned discipline and I was able to learn about this opportunity through my school's uh Google classroom. Another I risk I another risk I took was going to
California for a USC Boulevard uh kind of program. And there um I was able to learn about the college application process and they kind of helped me in my college application journey. And again um I was I was told this through my school's Google classroom and also other
City High alumni that had went there. Um now I'm taking on my next risk and opportunity and I'll be the first uh generation in my immigrant family to go to university in the US. Um, I took it even a step further and I'm going out of state to uh an Ivy League institution,
the University of Pennsylvania at their school of nursing. Um, I'm willing to take the risk and see where it goes. And I encourage you all and other scholars and adults to take that risk and see where it leads you.
[Applause] Okay, so I don't have that big of a spiel. Fabula definitely outdid me. But hello everyone. My name is Ron Patel. I am a senior at Union High School. Um,
this is my last meeting. So sadly I have to go away from the beautiful board. Um, in within my 12 years of GRPS, I have loved it. It's been amazing. GRPS provides so many opportunities to learn,
to grow, any help needed. They always have all those resources. So, I I love the district. And then last year, I joined the superintendent advisory council and which has led me to this opportunity to become a scholarly representative on the board. Um, I have
loved it. I got the awesome opportunity to meet Dr. Roi and talk about issues that we can fix within GRPS and out of GRPS. Some of the opportunities that we did were we went to Meltroder to kind of experience and um help out the people in
need. We kind of cooked food and got to see the facility and which was a great opportunity because I didn't even know that existed until that day. So, you definitely learn new things throughout GRPS for sure and I highly encourage just like Fabula said to take advantage of those opportunities.
Um, I have been part of many, many things throughout my high school year and my elementary and middle school year. Um, but those even though they might seem boring, I would definitely like I know there's a lot of students sitting in the crowd right now and they
might think, "Oh, this is boring. It's just about government." It's not always all about what it seems to be about. And the experiences you learn from it is something that you can never get again. So I highly encourage you to join those. Um I've learned many new things from
joining those. I've gotten many opportunities to speak with um many people and I have a lot of connections now. I also got the opportunity to talk to uh Gretchen Whitmer, our governor um
through one of those programs. So I definitely encourage taking advantage of those opportunities. My plans after high school is I am attending the University of Michigan [Applause] going those are one of my biggest risk I
have taken and I am will be also attending their scrummer bridges scholar program in which I wasn't ready for but now here I go. So one thing I definitely one piece of
advice I can definitely give is life is like a book. Every chapter has to end but a new chapter comes your way and the feeling of nervousness is normal. So don't be upset or afraid. Don't be like
oh no I'm nervous like I can't do this. It's normal. I trust me I've been through it. So, you know, you never know what's happens in the next chapter until you read. So, enjoy every moment while it lasts. Definitely. Senior year went by
so fast and I didn't expect it and now it's hitting me cuz I'm about to graduate in a week and I highly encourage just enjoy every moment, every opportunity you get because you will you won't get the same one again. So, thank
you [Applause] As the board is aware, we have um three scholar advisories. Um and I just want to make sure I want to give an opportunity for Althia Betting House. I don't I don't see her in the audience, but she was our third representative
this year. I don't see her. Um I was going to do this at the end during the um president announcements, but I see that it's fitting now since you both gave such wonderful speeches. So, we do
have um a certificate for you and a gift. So, I will hand those to you right now. And then would it be all right if we get a picture? Absolutely. Board members, can you come up front? I
can get a picture with that. Yeah, a little bit closer. All right, everybody ready? All right. Three, two, one. Congratulations. [Applause] [Applause]
We just love the addition of the principal's advisory group in general and we've been so grateful or superintendent advisory group in general and we're just so proud to have some of our students on the up here on the board as well and appreciate
all of their input. So, thank you. Moving on, we have public comment. Are there any other cards back there? This is for board agenda items only and
students. us. Hello everyone. Uh, if there are individuals present who wish to address the board, please fill out a public comment card located at either entrance of the board chambers. Please also read the rules on the back of the comment card concerning policy and procedure. We
have two public comment sections on the agenda. This first one is public comment on board agenda items only. Um, agendas are located by the comment cards. The second public comment opportunity is for commenting on non-aggenda items related to the business of the district but are not topics on the current agenda. If you
wish to comment during both public comment opportunities, you'll need to fill out separate cards. Uh individuals will be given uh will be invited one at a time to the podium to address the board. Before beginning your comment, please state your full name. At that time, we will start the timer allowing each individual
3 minutes to make their comment. Um, you will need to complete your comment time upon being notified that the 3 minutes have passed by that timer. Um, board members do not respond to public comment. Concerns will be brought to the attention of the appropriate staff. We value your input and thank you for
sharing with us today. Okay, we will start with Marcus Moore. There's two names on here. Okay, come on up. Marcus Moore and Janva
Janea. John Vea Donley. Yeah. Good evening. I'm Marcus Moore. Okay. So, hi. So, my name is Marcus Moore. I am the mathematics curriculum specialist and also one of the program coordinators for STEM
Scholars 2.0, which is a program of STEM greenhouse. Um, for almost 3 years now, our program has provided academic, social, and financial support to over 400 students and more than 50 teachers and staff at Innovation Central High School. This includes PLC's, classroom
assistants, and supplies for core math and science teachers. We have also provided renovated and modern STEM spaces for the building. Our program has taken students to visit over 15 colleges and universities. This also includes 10
H.B.CU. On top of this, we have provided countless hours of tutoring, feeding, and mentoring over 80 students in our STEM Scholars 2.0 program. All of this has been done without financial support from the GRPS district.
It is essential now more than ever to invest in our children and to make sure that all children have the opportunity to do better than what we have done. To speak on what investing in children can do, I would like to introduce the amazing John Vea to speak
on her experience with STEM greenhouse and STEM scholarship fund. Good evening members of the Grand Rapids Public School Board. My name is John Donley and I'm a great I'm grateful to be here tonight and show how STEM Greenhouse and its programs such as STEM
Scholars 2.0 have impacted my life. Before joining these programs, I knew STEM was important, but I didn't realize how many opportunities were out there. Through hands-on learning, amazing mentors, and exciting challenges, I have gained skills and
confidence that I know will help me in the future. Something that impacted me, something that impacted me the most is seeing how far Stem Greenhouse has come. I've been with STEM Greenhouse for over 5 years and was a part of Dr.
Christopher's after school program at Dickinson Academy. I am now a junior at Innovation Central High School. Being in STEM Scholar 2.0 has really opened my eyes. not only has it given me multiple opportunities, but
nevertheless have shown me no dream is too big. You can accomplish it. I'll forever be thankful for Dr. Christopher and STEM Greenhouse. We need more people like STEM Greenhouse to believe in us and invest in our future. Thank you.
[Applause] Okay, we have Priscilla Vanlas Veniclas and Yamis. Yas pois. Is that you? Okay. Jam loose. Yeah. Okay. Come on up.
Sorry. Before you will you will you pronounce your full name. So we we got it. Is Jamus Poper. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Ready. So, good evening members of
Grand Rapids Public School. My name is Priscilla Venloss and I'm the lead Sage teacher for STEM greenhouse. And Sage stands for sustainability, agriculture, gardening, and ecology. We are a hands-on enrichment program designed specifically for middle school students
in grades 6 through 8. Over the past three years, Sage has served more than 800 students across five GRPS schools, including Elder Middle, Burton, Southwest Community Campus, Dickinson Academy, and MLK leadership academy. We
have brought certified science educators into the classrooms, delivered engaging standardbased lessons, supplied all necessary material, and provided students with enriching experience, including field trips such as the annual manners conference at Michigan State
University. So despite these contributions and our um demonstrated impact, it is important to note that GRPS currently provides no funding for the SAGE program. We have sustained this work through external grants and partnerships but the needs and demand
from students, families and school has continued to grow. Now I would like to introduce Jamulus our sage scholar who can share her personal experience and the difference the program has made in her education.
Hi everyone, it's a pleasure to be here. My name is Demaloo and I have and I have a lot of things to say about this program. If I'm being honest, I never thought Sage of being part of my life or but then Miss Priscilla came into my
classroom and show us all these cool experiments and it made me realize that I really like STEM and I also really love agriculture. I love dealing with plants. Um, and I really appreciate STEM and
Miss and Miss Priscilla for giving me the opportunity to find what I love. I wouldn't have I wouldn't have these opportunities without STEM greenhouse. They made it all happen. And I hope one day I can help others the way they
helped me and many students. Thanks for listening to us and for investing in our future. [Applause] And next we have Hassan Abdi. Good evening members of Grand Rapids
public schools board. My name is Hassan and I'm a sixth grader at Dickson Academy. I am happy to represent STEM greenhouse Sage and STEM scholars programs today. In Sage and STEM Scholars, we try cool science experiments, design our own projects,
and play math games that are fun. We learn about careers in STEM, work together with friends on creative challenges, and go on field trips, all for free. We get experiences we don't usually have in class. Something that really stuck with me was when we learned about careers in
agriculture. We learned about the different agricultural jobs there are in the world and what they do for the community. It truly helped me understand agriculture around the world. Because of these programs, I'm not just learning from books. I'm doing experiments, making things, and working
with friends. It's made me feel brave to try new stuff and not give up when something is hard. Your support means we get to learn fun ways and dream big about what we can do next. Board members, you make programs like this happen and let us share our ideas. Thank you for your support.
[Applause] [Applause] Okay. Harper Vanderen and Mars Woodstra. Hi. Um, I'm Mars Woodstra. I'm from CA Frost and I'm in eighth
grade. Um, if we continue to pay teachers unfairly, kids won't want to grow up and be teachers. there. Um, that will result in there being nobody to educate to educate the
future of our country and we really need that. So, hi, I'm Harper Vanderen, also an eighth grader at CA Frost Middle. Teachers pay is really important. If you want to put our students first, you cannot put our student or teachers last. pay our
teachers more. Thank you, Heather Alward. Heather Alward, followed by Lucas Leett. Good evening. My name is Heather Alward and I'm a teacher at Grand Rapids Monasuri and I've been in Grand Rapids
public teaching for 25 years this year. Um, I have given you each a copy of a letter Monasuri High School teachers sent to Dr. Roby, Dr. Love Lady Mitchell, Mr. Barisford, and facilities. I don't want to take my time here going over the numbers as they are in the
aforementioned letter. We feel we were heard and have been reassured. The design team has been sent back to the drawing board regarding the Riverside Middle. We were informed via email that our district is going back to the overall bond budget to discover how
Riverside can be expanded to meet our minimum capacity requirements. While this is appreciated as a whole, we are uncomfortable with the idea of taking a bigger piece of the bond or make or taking money away from any of the other schools. We do not feel our scholars
deserve more than any other GRPS scholars. We just want to become an accredited monastery program which requires us to be in our own space with very specific parameters. This would help us retain scholars in our district and build our middle and high school
programs in Monasuri. We would like to understand why our offered solution to this problem continues to be rebuffed or ignored. Over the years, we've asked about being rehoused at GRPS University. The following uh reasons are the reasons
we've been told it isn't possible. Um the building isn't up to code. Traffic busing difficulties. It's more expensive to renovate. GRPS makes money from that building. It was built as a middle school, not an elementary or high
school. GRPS holds its PD meetings there. And it houses some GRPS offices that are overflow overflow from Franklin campus. We feel that none of these reasons really holds water. We would like to once again offer the following
solution. Move GRPSU to Riverside Middle. This solves most if not all these issues as we see it. The offices at GRPSU would fit and have enough room for parking without disrupting the neighborhood like a preK
through high school campus would. updates could be made to the GRPSU building without having to add on in the near future. We hope we aren't seen as stubborn or demanding. We sincerely would like to propose this exchange once
again as a win-win situation for our scholars, our historic Monasoy program, and GRPS as a whole. Thank [Applause] you Lucas [Music] Leett followed by Jane
Neman. Good evening Lucas Leett, parent of a graduating city high senior and frequent speaker of Truth to Power who isn't going anywhere after commencement. Looking at the minutes from your work session on April 28th, item 132 on tonight's
agenda. Worthy of note this evening is the concept of staying student centered in all of your work. Those of us in this community who invest the time and the energy to come here and perform advocacy
are frequently regarded as not being student centered. Until you get those assertions under control, you will never have the ethical hybrid. The second notable is modeling
and promoting transparency. Several critical concerns have been conveniently opaque lately. What is the status of Dean Transportation's contract and related sanctions over their constant failures?
What is the status of Larry Johnson's contract renewal or preferably his dismissal? What is the legal proof regarding your claim to be unable to live stream these meetings to the public?
And most importantly, when are we getting open negotiations for teacher contracts so that we can all follow, critique, and oversee as parents and taxpayers. I've been waiting to see the
big moves from the majority here, but we're seeing the same slow walking and goalong to getalong incrementalism that betrays your student centering. I asked you to break eggs and make omelets. And so far, you're not even feeding the
chickens. Mr. Williamson, where is all that pro- union savvy we elected you to leverage? Mr. Rodriguez, you've got a lot to say about state and federal leaders who aren't angry enough, but where is your anger as a seated elected leader yourself? Mix Marino, are you
most effectively using your historic election to this board to push for progress fast enough? Mr. Davis, where is all that transparency you ran on and those nerdy dismantlings of stupidity that we've often exchanged? It's time to stop pontificating about board norms and
organizational theories and start doing. I look forward to lively discussion tonight, which I assure you will be student centered and transparent from this side of the podium. At least every day we waste is precious time with our students. We don't have time to take
until your next election. The time is now. Thank you, Jane Neman followed by Selen Turan. Sorry. Good evening, Board President Davis, Superintendent Roby,
members of the board. I'm Jay Neman, vice president of GREA. I am here tonight with my fellow educators. Could I ask them just to stand, please? Anybody here who is an educator in GRPS, please stand. Thank
you. Last week was teacher appreciation week. We do that really well at Union High School. Our admin are very good at making us feel appreciated and thanking us. Our students write affirmations as Reema notes. I got some wonderful ones
this year. Um but and what I saw tonight with the art the essays that the students wrote, all of that starts in the classroom with great educators.
And if you really want to appreciate the educators here in GRPS, then we need to change the way that we negotiate. Hiring Trun Law to continue after a year of bargaining restored
topics to say no to what we have asked for. Uh they have said yes to a couple of things, but ultimately those articles haven't changed and we've bargained this for a year. It doesn't get anywhere putting a lawyer
up front. What we need to do is sit down with real decision makers here at GRPS, talk about what we feel is best for students and what needs to change, and also what will show teachers appreciation, pay them a competitive
wage. Because when you do that, teachers don't have to get a second or a third or a fourth job. They have more time to devote to the classroom, to their planning, to their student data, to look at what works and what doesn't in the classroom. And if we change the way we
negotiate to be more transparent and really sit down and have those conversations with educators, you would see that we do both believe that what we want is best for students. And when you pay educators a fair wage, when you listen to those experts in the
classroom, you can find solutions to things. And I know that educators use a lot of their salary. They do support kids. They pay for snacks when kids come too late to get breakfast. They pay for incentives so students will work hard
and work to achieve things. Okay? And you can't do that if you're working a second or third job. if you're worried about paying for your kids' college and knowing that not only are you sacrificing your wage every day uh to be less than what other districts would pay, but you're also sacrificing your
retirement. You know, why would you want to work 30 years in a district and know that you're going to come out behind? So, we're asking you to put educators first because you can't put students first without putting educators
first. Thank you. [Applause] Okay. Following Selen will be Lenel Miller. Good evening Dr. Roby President Davis and trustees of the board. My name is Salem Tron and I am a Grand Rapids
Monasuri High School teacher. Two weeks ago, Monasuri was shown the re-imagined plan for the merging of Grand Rapids Monastery Academy, Grand Rapids Monasuri Middle, and North Park Monasuri. This plan revealed a cut to 14 of its current
teachers. While we've been told that the district leaders and the design team are going back to review and refine the plan, I worry that just increasing the number of classrooms from what was presented is not enough. It is vital that all current classrooms are
guaranteed a new pl a place in this new campus. Back in February, I spoke to this board about how individual teachers make such an impact on our school every day. A cut to any teacher takes away these positive impacts to GRPS scholars.
Specifically, the Monatory High program. This plan takes away three teachers. It takes away a teacher that provides differentiated work for scholars below, at, and above, uh, average in math classes every day. A teacher who provides personally
purchased snacks to scholars each day. And a teacher who provides engaging and relatable science instruction to scholars every day. My scholars, your scholars, our scholars deserve these teachers in classrooms. Losing even one
takes away so much from them. Monasuri is a unique educational philosophy that serves the whole child. We serve the emotional, academic and social needs of each scholar. While I could spend all night uh talking about the amazing things that Monastery does to serve its
scholars every day, it would take the whole night. I want to make clear that while I will always brag about my amazing program and amazing scholars, I am not saying that my program is any better or deserves any more than any other program in this district. I'm here
to ask that the Monastery program, specifically the high school program, is given the same chance as any other high school program in this district. While being the longest standing theme school program over 50 years, Monasuri High is
the only high school that has never had its own space. Our scholars have never been able to call this school their home, their own, and our scholars have never been able to have their own
identity. as previously stated um in a former um speech. Sorry. Um our scholars deserve to feel important. They deserve to be feel seen,
to be themselves, and to have their own identity. I ask again, as stated in a previous speech, consider Grand Rapids public schools university for us. Thank you, Lenel Miller. Good evening, Dr. Roby and board
members. My name is Lenel Miller and I am a GR monatory parent at the launch of reimagining GRPS. I was not a fan of the proposed Riverside building as I believe it is too far north for the current population of Grand Rapids Monastery Academy. After listening to staff and
their need for a dedicated building for the program, I've seen firsthand how our program would flourish with the right space. As a parent action leader, I've spent countless hours talking with staff, my fellow pals, parents, and scholars about what this move looks like for all of us. So, while the idea of the
Riverside Monastery isn't my preferred choice, the project, as initially proposed, an expanded and renovated building I would accept is something that benefits more than just my family. However, the plans presented to staff were significantly different from that proposal. The expansion is gone and the
renovation would need to shrink our current programs. As of this year, the population of the combined programs is 1,50 scholars. Based on the formula plant used to calculate utilization for the district at each grade grade level, the capacity of a renovated Riverside
would be just 925 scholars. Today I'm asking why the district is seeking to shrink two successful programs by eliminating the expansion from their plans. Our monastery middle and high program has grown and been successful while not having its own space. Our E1 and E2 levels continue to operate at
high utilization rates. I believe that this program as a whole would continue to grow with the right conditions. Eliminating teachers classrooms and program offerings in high school and increasing class sizes in the elementary grades will drive more parents to seek
options outside of GRPS, myself included. I know I speak as a monastery parent and that the commitment by this reimagined plan is to ensure equitable access to resources across the district. However, I believe it is short-sighted to reduce this program while offering no
comparable al alternatives to the scholar families who will be disenfranchised by the move. As you move forward, I hope for greater inclusion of staff, better communication with families in the process, and a plan that does not reduce the monastery program.
Thank you. [Applause] Okay, that concludes our board agenda item, public comment. So, we will move
on to GRPS foundation report. Good evening, Dr. Roby, board of directors. Um, just wanted to share a couple quick updates with you guys. Mind share is just two weeks away. As you guys know, it's the largest fundraising event that we do. Um, this one is going
to be particularly uh focused on field trips and really experiential learning of which, uh, that's a lot of the things that we've funded through our teacher miniig grants this year. Again, teacher miniig grants are a great opportunity for teachers to think outside of the funds that they might be spending out of their own pocket to be able to use for
some in-class experiences um or supplement some of the things that they're doing on their own. Um so I'm excited to share that we've raised almost $140,000 for that. We'll have the Union Theater Club performing a section from their Mean Girls uh junior as well
as City High's jazz band. And we'll also have two students speaking um from across the district. uh one representing Union High School and one representing uh University Preparatory um Academy as well. Oh yeah. And then everyone that comes
and donates will be getting a I love GRPS public school sticker. So um we also want to share that our community partners will be there on hand as well. Um Blandford Meer Gardens, the public museum civic theater who have all had long-standing relationships with the
district. Um they'll be showing our guests what it's like when our students go on their field trips. Um couple other celebrations we were able to and thank you very much for many of the uh board of education as well as our board of directors and staff
for delivering to over 50 buildings uh teacher and staff appreciation cakes last week. And upcoming we are going to be working on three playground beautififications uh Ridgemore uh Burton and Harrison Park. Um that will be done with community partners just to freshen
up uh cement games um repaint uh different lines and any other uh projects that we find just to beautify the the playgrounds. Um and uh there's a few piles of mulch that also need to be spread out so we volunteer ready to go. Uh this summer we'll be working on some
new plans in regards to community feedback um just with partners things that you guys have been hearing and working on just kind of our plan of how fundraising is going to go for next year. Really want to focus on infrastructure projects um including new playground um and other partnerships
that we um have collaborated with Ottawa Hills boosters and perhaps a few other things that kind of bubble up through different community conversations. So thank you very much. Any questions? Anyone? Thanks for your work.
See you all at my chair. Thank you. [Applause] Okay. Secretar's report. Yep. The only thing I got today is uh that the finance committee uh next
meeting is taking place on Tuesday, May 27th at 4:30 p.m. uh here in the board chambers. Thank you. Committee chair reports. Um Kim is not here to give the report for finance
or ad hoc. Do any of you who are on those committees want to share anything? Well, the ad hoc um meeting was canceled for right prior to this because of the content of today's meeting being um facilities related. Well, that's good to know. Okay. Anything for finance or no?
Um city board leazison. Yeah, I I have city board leaison. Okay. Yep. I I I'll give a report for city board. Um so, we had our first meeting of the year. Uh it takes some time to get something on the schedule com
combining commissioners and board members. So um Mayor Lrand did uh speak of the land bank that he's hoping to start and how DRPS could possibly partner with the city in the future um through that land bank. Uh we did
receive a report on the Grow 1000 program um which if you're not familiar that offers 15 to 24 year olds an opportunity for summer employment for um six weeks. They get paid $13 an hour
at 20 hours per week. Um they just gave uh an update from 2024. there were uh they gave that update and then they said so far for 2025 there's 535
applicants and 126 have completed the process uh with 38 businesses participating so far. Um so if there's any businesses or students that are interested in that program, there is
still room for growth with that program. Um, we also had a parks and recck summer youth program update. Uh, some things that stood out in that were the free summer day camps at four of the city parks. Um, the pools opening, outdoor
fitness programs that are free and kayak rentals on a couple there's one family night, other nights that you can rent them as well. So, check out the parks and wreck page for all of that information. They also said there's some updated park security measures that are
taking place. And then um Chief Johnson gave an update on the fire department u partnership we have at the East Leonard building and that lease is going really well. They're good
tenants. So that was a very brief update and that's all I have. We can move on. Um Ari, do you have policy advisory report?
I don't have a report prepare, but I do um plan on bringing some things up at our work session. Okay. Thank you. When is the next session? It's Thursday. Is it May? The work session is the 15th. No, no, the next
policy advisory. Oh, I'm sorry. 29. I can't recall. Okay. We have a couple dates. Okay. All right. Moving forward with the superintendence report. Dr. Roby. All right. So, good evening everybody.
Um we are going to give an update related to our um facilities master plan. And with regard to this, some of the things that we've been asked to do is just to make the connection or thread the needle so to speak on the work that
we're doing from a operational standpoint to um the overall vision of our district. And um I just want to remind people what a vision is for our our work. a vision is more aspirational
of where do we want our desired state to be and our long term long-term excuse me aspirations um and those are directly tied to our six themes related to our um strategic plan meeting scholars
holistic needs optimizing evaluating school options um ensuring equitable access and outcomes enhancing our curricular programs cultivating a more engaged, impactful, diverse workforce and creating a um
culture of trust and collaboration. And again, these are always aspirational. And so, as we are working to strive towards that, there will be times that we excel and there will be times where we may have to take a step back, but we want to make sure that we don't lose
focus of that. And so what the reimagine plan that you're going to see this evening is kind of um the work that we have continued to do related to kind of the the brickandmortar things that you'll see related to our facilities as well as some of those aspirational goals
of how do we create a better school community and what who will be in front of us this afternoon or this evening are um both Miss Cheney, Mr. Barisford, Mr. Styer, Mr. Larry Johnson, and um Mr.
Dale, and I'm drawing a blank on his last name. Um just to kind of talk about the combination of those two things, and so that you'll be able to see not only just the functional operational components, but also those aspirational components of how we're threading that needle of uh the overall goal of
reimagining our reimagining our district. And so with that, I'll turn it over to Mr. Styer and team. Good evening, Doc. Dr. Dr. Roby, President Davis, board of education members, and our scholar representatives this evening. Tonight, we'll give a three-part update on the effort to reimagine GRPS. Executive directors
Bridget Cheney, and Matthew Barersford will kick us off in just a moment. Then they'll be followed by Chief Larry Johnson and Dale Kaminga to provide a construction update, and then I will come back at the end uh to walk you through the updated Reimagine GRPS dashboard. The work to reimagine GRPS is rooted in
our district's strategic plan, especially the themes centered on meeting the holistic needs of our scholars, optimizing and valuing all school options, ensuring equitable access and outcomes, and creating a culture of trust, collaboration, and stewardship. You will see examples tonight of how our teams are focused on
collaboration, creating flexible spaces, and always remaining childfocused. And that's where we'll start tonight, focused on caring for our scholars. This is what we do every day. And this spring, we've been preparing our young people for two moves next school year.
Scholars and staff at Ken O'Shea Park will join Sherwood Park so that the exciting renovation of Kenosha can get underway. And scholars and staff at Riverside Middle School will have a new home inside the renovated Innovation Central High School next year that will allow construction to begin at Riverside
for our new PK through2 Monasuri campus. Edie Cheney and Edie Barerisford will now walk us through how we are supporting these school communities during this time of transition. Perfect. Thank you. Good evening. Dr. Roby, President Davis, and distinguished
members of the board. So as I talk about what we have done and are going to do between Sherwood Park families, scholars and um staff members along with Kenosha Park and Sherwood mixed together. There is something that started to take place
early this year as far as conversations between the two principles and how are we going to collaborate this year? How are we going to make sure that our scholars, families, and staff come together as one? because we are merging two schools into one location and making
sure that everybody feels that sense of belonging. So, a couple of the early things that we did is we had um we had staff informational meetings both at Kenosha and at Sherwood for some very logistical things, but then also to hear feedback. What is going to make this
most comfortable for you? While knowing that for Kenosha a move can be um hard. they've been in the same spot for many years and knowing for sure would welcoming someone into their space already established uh might be a little difficult as well. So heard from the staff and then we did the same thing
with families and scholars. So we held two different nights, one at Kenosha, one at Sherwood to hear from scholars to hear from families about not only uh what could make it more comfortable for them but what are your aspirations uh what can you see as exciting based upon
what we presented as coming forward. So exciting, exciting meetings those were. And we had a staff mixer so Sherwood and Kenosha staff could get together and not plan, not collaborate, but really just enjoy one another's company, getting to
know each other. Um, play some games and have some good times as far as um I'll say off books, right? So, not planning, not collaborating, but really just letting your hair down and and um being a able to enjoy one another's company after getting to know each other. So,
Principal Maher has also been over at Sherwood a couple different times to see the flow of the school. So, what happens in the morning? How do you dismiss? Where are your classrooms located right now? And how how may that best integrate with Ken O'Shea teachers and and kids
coming over. So, she has been over to to see the day with um the current principal right now. And then they've also collaborated throughout the year, not only on layout and what may be best, but also on curricula because Sherwood being an IB theme school and Ken O'Shea
being a cultural center, they they feed each other very very well. They will merge very well, but the two leaders had to come together to say, "Hey, here are the strengths of this. Here are the strengths of this and and how do we make it great together?" So, they've done that throughout the year. We have this week, we are super excited about
Wednesday and Saturday because we're holding an open house at Sherwood Park, not only for KennoShake um kids and families, but also for Sherwood to be able to meet and greet, see how things go, uh welcome each other into the the newly combined space that will be this
fall. So, Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:30, we will have an open house. Same thing on Saturday from 10:00 to 12:00 to make sure we made it as accessible as possible for all. There will be um enrollment opportunities there. Uh staff members to answer questions, tours
coming along. Um whenever anybody comes that wants a tour, we'll be able to do that. Just smiling faces to welcome everybody and say come on along. This is going to be a great year upcoming. And then um to forecast, we have a carnival this August for both school communities,
which is now going to be the Sherwood community as one. So that'll be the good big gigantic kickoff for both to see one another again after a warm and fun summer and to kick off the year, right? And we also are planning an open house at Southeast Career Pathways because we
know that that school will be completed. So, two separate things, but wanted to say some forecasting for both because we're looking really forward to both of those events. Good evening. I will start with uh how we're welcoming the middle schoolers over at Riverside into Innovation
Central next year. So, Principal Martin, Principal Patton of Riverside, Principal Reed of Grand Rapids Monastery Middle High, and myself have been having weekly planning meetings to collaborate and thoughtfully co-construct this learning
community for next school year of the three programs learning within that one building. And then current Riverside teachers have seen their future classrooms on the whole second floor will be the new middle school floor welcoming those Riverside middle
schoolers and so have our scholars through grade level field trips that have happened this spring over to the school. Then an upcoming Innovation Central open house for parents and caregivers will happen on June 2nd to welcome the new scholars and families
before summer. And then we have a tenative date for a larger orientation and openhouse once the classrooms are all set up on the second floor. And that is tenatively set for August 14th. And then next year, our middle and
high school scholars will have a robust fine arts program that offers visual arts, band, choir, and even theater arts, which hasn't been offered to our scholars in that building for over a decade.
Lastly, I'd like to share an update on the Monasuri PK-12 campus. Uh, just last week, school leaders and district leaders collaborated with our contracted design team to review and refine the initial building concept using the
feedback that we've recently received from staff to explore uh opportunities to improve it. And so that design firm is working hard and are hopeful to have an updated design to share with our monastery staff and families before summer break. Thank you. All right. So
now for an update on construction. Uh we'll welcome Chief Larry Johnson and Mr. Dale Caminga to take over the presentation. Good evening, President Davis, Superintendent Roby, other board trustees. Uh this is Dell Kaminga. Dell is new to the district now about four
months, six months, six months. Six months and uh working um very intimately with Alex Smart and his team around construction and design. uh tonight he'll be talking about the two different phases. The phases that we've gone into the second phase as well as introducing
the uh f first phase for uh summer work. Uh it'll be a very busy summer uh with all the projects that are moving, all the moving parts, but our goal is to bring these projects in on time under on budget or under budget. We've been uh working very uh very intently with our
executive directors uh uh Ed Cheney as well as Ed Bears uh to make sure that uh ops can establish a very smooth transition uh for the relocation of programs uh for next fall uh to include the movement of the necessary supplies
and furniture uh that uh that needs to follow. So I would turn it over to Mr. Kaminga who will talk about the construction project as well as some of the design programming that we're we're currently working on. Thank you, Chief Johnson. Good evening, Dr. Roby,
President Davis, and the board. Uh, as you can see, here is a list of uh current projects that are under construction or will be under construction for this year. And I will um go into a little more detail here in
a moment. We also have many of many more bond projects that are under uh the program and and design phase as we are getting ready um for the 26 and 27 construction season. So we have the new elementary
school at the Aberdine site, the new pre preK12 monastery at Riverside, the Southeast Environmental Science Academy at Kenosha, and we have the second phase of the Ken Hills Elementary, which will
include the interior remodeling and uh playground upgrades. These all these projects are currently um scheduled to bid late this summer with construction to begin in the fall. Our next round of projects will be
the Ottawa Hills renovation where we're moving the Alger Middle School in and that will include the uh high school auditorium and the high school swimming pool. And then we have City High School auditorium and swimming pool also. And
then finally, we have the Union High School to receive the Westwood Middle School along with the auditorium and the swimming pools. We are currently working out a plan to hopefully consolidate some of these projects as to
um minimize the disruptions in the building. Couple of these are currently scheduled for different years. So, um if we can get them consolidated, we'll assist and minimize. As I mentioned earlier, these
projects are currently under construction as a continuation from last year. So, Sibi, Koi Creative Arts, and Southeast Career Pathways, which is Sigby, are all continuing. Uh, Briggsfield started in March and
completion expected in September. Um, we have replaced a retaining wall and we are currently grading out the field to uh receive the new side. um upcoming additional projects for the
summer. Houseman Field is scheduled to begin after Memorial Day. We have three parking lots that are scheduled that will be um Congress Grand Rapids Monastery and
the West lot at Innovation Central. And then the remainder on this list will get started as soon as school lets out in June. So we have Caesar Chavez, which is flooring replacement and some masonry restorations. Dickinson Academy, which
is a new secured entrance and flooring replacement. And then uh Kent Hills, we are doing the parking lot. And then um at innovation central that will um get started also with the completion in um
the 1 of October. So, so as you can see all it's a very busy summer schedule, a very a very heavy construction schedule that we're trying to keep on keep on time but we are going back to listen to the stakeholders, our parents, our community
in terms of their their comments and their input and around some of the and while we in the design design phase but to help us keep track of all of this work at your request uh we created a dashboard and uh Luke will talk more about the dashboard and uh how to uh
further track projects. Okay, so I'm excited to walk you through the new construction project section of the reimagine GRPS dashboard where our entire community can follow our progress. Uh this dashboard since we first launched it two years ago continues to be iterative as we move
through reimagine GRPS facility plan. Every large project will now have its own section on the reimagine dashboard. These are the six uh that we have launched so far. Southeast career pathways, the new northeast elementary school, the new southeast environmental science academy, uh the PK through 12
Monasuri campus, Housemanfield, and Briggsfield. You just click on uh one of these icons on the dashboard and uh it will take you to that project. So, I'm going to show you uh what the Southeast Career Pathways dashboard looks like. Each of these pages is meant to be one
singular spot where you can learn everything about each project. Uh so you can see here on the Southeast Career Pathways dashboard, it has the estimated completion date on it along with the location, the architect, the construction manager, the budget, the funding source, and the project scope. So it's all in one spot. Then you see a
picture of uh one of the renderings along with community events. So you'll see the events that the information meetings that happened uh at for this project last summer. And then as ribbon cutings and open houses are scheduled, those will be added to that calendar. If you click on the view renderings button,
uh you pull up that presentation. So that's one of the presentations from last summer. There's like 25 slides there of renderings of what the project will look like both inside and outside and some of the specifics. So you can scroll through that and really learn a lot more about the project. Every time renderings are
released to through a community meeting, they'll be added to the dashboard for for that project. Um and uh yeah for each project as soon as renderings are shared with community they'll be added to the dashboard. Yes. And then on the southeast career pathways. So as we go through each of
these projects uh once construction begins uh there will be a construction blog. These are updated monthly. Uh here's the most recent update from Southeast Career Pathways. You can see the progress listed since the last blog uh was posted. So like the new sign base built, new HVAC equipment installed. We
also have a photo gallery of the work underway. Uh right now we're planning a communication about the dashboard and about all the upcoming construction projects to families and staff before the end of the school year this year. And I'd also encourage everyone to go look at the dashboard. It's live now. grps.org. There's also a link right on
the homepage of the GRPS website. So, one of the things that we're trying to again thread that needle of how do we tie all the work that's taking place and in a district our size there's lots of like moving parts that are constantly
taking place and trying to help make the connection so that people don't get lost in the sauce so to speak but we're trying to make some connections that are intuitive so to speak and so um as
stated This is it's iterative and we continually seek to improve and make it more um user friendly. Um tying it back to our district goal and vision specifically um theme six around being
um better stewards of our of our resources, making sure that we are on time and on budget. Um, we always want to be under budget if if possible, uh, because then that frees up resources for other things and also as we think about
kind of the impact. Those of those of you who have lived through construction projects before know that sometimes it's it's kind of a pain. Um, and so how do we mitigate disruptions to programming? And so, uh, one of the things that
you'll see is again the goals of trying to complete projects outside of when people are there with the hope that weather and materials show up when they need to show up so that it doesn't have some impact because we really want to
make sure that when our scholars and our staff return, they are able to return and get right to work and not have to live in kind of that dusty space of renovations. And so,
um, trying to en ensure again that we're communicating, people are able to see the updates, and then also, um, understanding what those next steps are. Does anybody have any questions regarding what we've been presented
with? Yep. First of all, I appreciate the presentation. Thank you. Um, the dashboard is exciting and I'm looking forward to digging into that. I'm just going back a couple of slides under bond projects the design programming and this might be for Mr. Caminga. I'll any of
the experts up here can help with my question. I think looking at Ottawa Hills um understanding that we're renovating we're bringing the middle school in. There are auditorium improvements and swimming pool improvements. Has there been discussion about uh soccer field
improvements and sports field improvements as well? There is there is a um there is a a bond portion that deals with athletic fields and the of the athletic fields we that was left off of here but the athletic fields and that discussion both for Union and Ottawa Hills is uh a
conversation that's currently being had in terms of how do we uh take care of those fields but at the same time have adequate training space and locations for our athletes as we're in that transition. Who who are in those conversations? I know now that we have
an Ottawa Hills boosters team or uh the athletic director from Ottawa Hills is in that conversation. Uh it is again is at the uh the conversation stage at operations with Alex Smart and his team. Okay. And the boosters will come in eventually or have they reached out?
Stakeholder voice will absolutely be heard. Okay. Wonderful. Thank you. Yeah, I do have a couple questions. So as the beginning of the presentation uh we started with those design principles the collaboration integration flexibility and children focused. Um it
was my understanding that we would see how those are integrated into the design of the two buildings Aberdine and Riverside. Um is there a chance to do that or where or where would that happen? Yeah, I think that Go ahead. We are still finalizing um the plans. uh
we do have uh spaces for them called out. Okay. So, because when we saw it last, so it was my understanding that it was to wait till tonight to have that conversation. Um and that, you know, I think it was Miss Cheney that started with that idea of the buildings being um flexible and
collaborative. So, if the plans are moving every week towards what we already saw, then those things aren't integrated in. So, are you saying that that that's changed since we saw it at the facilities team meeting? So with Riverside, if I can speak on
that, I know that there was a um meeting and then we did receive some very um clear feedback on some opportunities for continued improvements related to that and my understanding is that has been taken
under adisement. I don't know that there has been a and I'm using I might be not I may not be using the correct term but a new rendering that has been publicly communicated but going back to kind of how do we make sure that it is a
collaborative space and some of the things um specifically as you look at um the monastery um conceptual framework to ensure that it fits the the nuances related to that and and also again
within and this is some of the conversations that we've been having. It's making sure that it fits that particular structure but then also understanding the other elements that we have to that are kind of our where are you tight and loose of staying within the allocated budget as well as looking
at some of those other dynamics of um anticipated growth or what the projected growth would be for those buildings. And so um Mr. Mr. Kaminga and team if you can just kind of even speak on the secondary followup that you all have
done since that those meetings last week or two weeks ago on Aberdine as well because I understand there's some feedback from both schools. Yeah, I have not seen the Aberdine feedback. Okay. Um Riverside we
have um I just received them prior to coming to this meeting an updated floor plan for Riverside. So, um, as soon as we get that vetted through, we'll, um, share that with the appropriate parties. Yeah. I guess my concern is that it's April
now and in March, uh, the plans were shown to us with pictures that didn't align to the plan itself. So, pictures meaning um, imagery that you know, not actual pictures of course, but imagery. And so, at that point, I articulated some worry that the design principles again of collaboration, integration,
flexibility, and child focus spaces were not integrated into the plan. and two months have gone by in schematic design. So that means we're to a point where we're heading into the next phase of the programming. It's really hard to change and very expensive. So if our um board might be concerned about the alignment
factor, that was supposed to be my understanding was today's conversation was around alignment between those design principles and the plan both sets of plans, Riverside and Aberdine. Yeah, I I wasn't involved in the conversation with Riverside, but my understanding that there was some early
renditions or early drawings that came up and then after some input from stakeholders, they were they went back to the drawing board and again I have not seen those uh those new plans that uh that are being drawn up and I know you you also mentioned the the Aberdine
conversation. Uh there was a community meeting held at Aberdine and I know some of the uh the work and comments from that was taken back uh to the uh facilities and operations team uh to incorporate some of those thoughts and thinking. So excuse me. I know I know
that well I guess I I don't know but um so what is presented at if I want to get the full uh presentation should I go to the facilities ad facilities meeting to
to really like understand everything because I I do see that we are getting kind of like a overall picture um and what I've heard from from my colleague is a little bit different and so I do want to fully understand kind of where we're moving forward with Aberdine and Riverside all these all these projects
truly but um I guess is that what we would say to our board colleagues if we want to get more of a full understanding is to go to the facilities well committee meetings I'm sure there's
more details at the facilities committee meetings would you say that well yes but it was canceled because it was going to be presented today and I don't know that that was the reason it was canceled. I have Mrs. Williams thought that some of the items we were going over tonight uh would be redundant
and so she did not want to have the ad hoc meeting and so she asked us just present that today. Okay. Even with the ad hoc, we we had not had an in-depth discussion in terms of what uh what projects those items were not on the agenda for the ad hoc. Okay. What I'm
hearing from my colleagues, correct me if I'm wrong, um board members, is in presentations on these facilities, especially Aberdeen, I think has been thrown out there quite a bit. if we
could have more information on how what is being developed is meeting those four criteria. Um I think personally I think it's a false statement to say that it might it's not in alignment with it without us hearing.
How do you see that it is in alignment? That's what I want to hear. Yeah. And that's what I've been asking for since March. So I I don't want to say that it's not in alignment with those four concepts. I just think if we could be presented more with these are the four
design comment art four design criteria principles. Thank you. Um, and this is how we see this building fitting into those principles because we might not all agree on what that looks like, but it would be good to hear that those are
being considered when you're designing the building. We can surely go back to I can surely go back to the design team and ask the design team, the construction folks, as well as our internal teams to prepare. We very much appreciate all of the things that we're being presented with. I think there's just a miscommunication of maybe what to
highlight and those are the four that keep getting brought up as highlighting those four principles. Well, and just to add one more piece to it is so every week so the $39 million we have budgeted for Aberdine and I think it's 27 or something towards Riverside every week
that the teams are working on it and and forwarding the plans and two months ago I flagged it saying I don't think these are really aligned and I and I might be wrong. Absolutely. I would just I would I feel like that is an important piece of our work here in governance is to make sure alignment's happening and I
wouldn't be speaking so firmly except that I've been saying it in writing and verbally for two months. So if I can um just unpack the the space around or the design principles, collaboration, flexibility and and child focus and specifically with Aberdine the
site. Um the renderings that have been shared do show that there are opportunities for spaces that are allow folks to collaborate in different ways. Um, flexibility meaning that the
the positions or the the rooms are not standard from the st the standpoint of you can use them for multiple multiple ways. Um, and then being child- centered, I know that with
the child- centered, child focused, there are other spaces, there's some outdoor learning spaces, and um the concept of classrooms outdoors as well as the playground area being more
accessible, which again speaks to some of those child focused areas. And so where I think the where we want to make sure that we stay in the the the level of governance
is do those things have those concepts versus the idea of it has to have this this this because when you're talking about a conceptual framework it is conceptual and it's the
idea around it and it's really open for interpretation versus it's something where you can say it's absolutely this or it's absolutely not this. Yeah, I agree. I think um that's why I am saying the approach of share with us how
you believe these designs are meeting these um to veer away from you know we might all have individual opinions of what flexibility looks like but if you could share what the design team has used as an idea of
flexibility an example of Yeah. So, thank you. Cuz what I I hear the the conversation leading to is flexible flexible space as defined as excuse me, it doesn't mean that how I
define it versus how you define it will be the same, but it's it's showing that a space can be used for multi-purposes and that would meet the criteria of a flexible space. That's what I hear you all saying. Yeah. And it's just the description you gave of those spaces we didn't see in the plan. So that's it.
Again, we could be wrong. So I just again with some such a big investment that happens in a neighborhood once in a lifetime, literally once in a lifetime. So we have to make sure that those millions of dollars are spent in a way that really does support those outcomes. And it may be that they're there and I just didn't see them, but I I was not
given the opportunity to see them. And so that's what I thought tonight would be. I I do want to uplift that in our ad hoc facilities meetings, I don't think they got that that question clearly ever asked to them. It was asked that we see
the ED specs and that was not the correct question. So I just I just want to say Sarah, what you asked them was not how does this align with those four items, but how does it align with the ED specs? And I think that's where the
confusion was until recently. It's not the same. Okay. Well, technically from the architecture side, it's the same thing. And so, go back to my original. What we got presented in November on aspects was not this. I I agree. Does this feel clearer?
It it feels clear for me to be able to give directions in terms of what needs to happen because an edspec is different than principles. And I think just talking about it and clearing that up hopefully will give us the outcome we're looking for. Does that make sense? But
we but it it was kind of clear in within our conversation and I did expect to hear more um tonight but that is important that we hear it. I mean even if it can be sent to us in a report
at this point. Um do do you have a tenative date as to when we could possibly receive that a new a new rendering clarification around the I guess the So here would be my suggestion is that
again because we're talking about a conceptual framework versus because I I language this is where language is important and and so when you say edspecs and please forgive me edspecs are like a room for 50 people has to have this this this not what you're
asking for. You're asking for the conceptual framework of if this space um to align with those design principles has flexibility, child centered, this is an example of what it looks like and this is how this space will be utilized.
That's how that's how I'm understanding. Yeah. No, that's that's I think that we can certainly do that um by the end hopefully by the end of the week and and Okay, we'll make sure that she Thank you. I think that will maybe well hopefully
it will provide what we need to move forward. So I appreciate that. Thank you. I have a quick question. I do too. I have a question about the dashboard. Go ahead. Well, it's I just wanted to um be clear if the swimming pool cuz we just I thought we fixed ID swimming
pool. I'm not sure exactly what else. But temporary. It was It was okay. Do the locker rooms include the that as well? Yes, there's some work done in the locker rooms as well. Um, it looks a lot different and I'm
appreciative of the construction updates, but I feel like it took out things around like culture and like safety or or did they get moved somewhere else? So there's still what was on the dashboard before some of it got minimized including some of the things that had already been checked box
but there's some of the things that we've been updating u monthly like teacher vacancies and uh transportation on time percentages those sorts of things are still there on the dashboard. I well can I follow up on that? I I know that I remember getting excited about
the initial dashboard when it got released. I know that we didn't check off all those boxes. I I would love to just see all of that. I mean, that's just my personal opinion. So, we can see where the progress is because I know there was a ton of stuff we were working on and like most some of it was done, some of it was not done. I would love to
keep that on there. I know it's it's a lot to put on there, but So, that's an individual. I'm sure I just want to make sure we're not giving I I'm just sharing my dreams. Sharing your dreams. Okay. Yeah. So the dashboard it keep um keeping in mind
that the dashboard was kind of an out an outreach effort of all the different things that are taking place and it was aligned to of course and still is aligned to our district strategic plan and so it does have some of those individual elements. this particular
component of the dashboard was specifically related to kind of our facilities and in that piece, but then some of the other things that have been included in the dashboard and I'm off the top of my head, it included like transportation, it included nutrition
services, it included some other components and so we can certainly continue to update that and it has been updated to my knowledge, but what was presented tonight was specifically one strand of the the dashboard. board around the brick andmortar components of
our district. Maybe it'd be a good idea for us to like before something goes off, it kind of comes presented to the board so it can be kind of viewed publicly as something that has been at least addressed to the satisfaction of the community before taking it off. Something like how would you how would how would you measure and
I'm asking I'm for whatever reason it comes off if there's enough of a reason to pull it off. Well, you're saying when something gets pulled off, have we pulled anything off? We removed some because of the the project stuff taking place. It's still on our website. It's just not active right now. So, we can move that back around and present that.
Absolutely. Got it. Okay. Just as a celebration kind of a thing. Yeah. So, am I hearing completion? We would want to hear what is completed. Yes. Yeah, that's what I Okay, we can do that the next day. So, any other questions?
Just for my awareness, um when might we hear? So with the feedback session that happened at Aberdine, when might we hear some of the feedback that uh was received then and how it's going to be incorporated into the Aberdine project moving forward? I think we have that
information. So I know that I I I don't have an update myself on the what the design team conversations since that meeting. Uh the designers did take in the questions that were and I actually was one who was writing all the
questions down. Yeah. And um they they have taken and reviewed them and incorporated what could be incorporated. Okay. Um but I don't have a that's okay. a
definitive plan that shows which ones were and which ones have Okay. Yeah. It just be interesting to see and maybe this is an ad hoc uh topic but interesting to see what community feedback was received and how that how that maybe has changed the plan. And then one other question just for
awareness um with the feedback around Riverside. What did um I know I mean we've heard tonight from uh folks from um GR Monatory have was the same thing happening with North Park Monastery as well getting feedback and what did that process look like?
Yeah, they were um they were presented in I did three pres presentations that week to um all three different entities and got feedback from all of them and then the um then we started getting some
of the emails with additional work. Okay. So we we've taken them and uh re-engaged the design architects to look into what we could do to accommodate uh as many as we could and stay budget
focused. Great. Thank you. Is there might there be an opportunity for uh staff and families even before work gets started on Riverside just to walk through and get a sense of what that space might look for uh look like for them as they move over there?
Maybe you don't know. But so right right now the next step is to uh go through the updated design plans, go back to staff and get their feedback. Uh once once we have a plan that we feel uh is is is what is desired, then we'll start that engagement with with families and
continue moving forward from there. Great. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. And sorry, I just noticed we don't have Aberdine on the on the dashboard. Is that going to be added? It is there. It's It's New Northeast Elementary School because it hasn't been named yet. It says Aberine. Palmer wants to make
sure we keep that. Heard that from a lot of people. I was like, where is it? All right. I got it. Thank you. I just keep calling it new Aberdeene in my head, and that's what I was expecting. So, thank you. Anything else, board members? Thank you so much for all the
information. Thank you. Thank you. So our next presentation and again um because I want to make sure we're threading that needle of with respect to um our work and the alignment of our desired state. We have an update with
respect to um staffing and our talent acquisition. Miss Daisy Romo will kind of give an update related to recruitment and retention. Um she was here three months ago. So, it's about once a quarter that we're getting some updates
on some of the progress as well as um strategies and the successes of those. Yes. Good evening. Um Dr. Roby, President Davis, and members of the board. Nice to see you all again. And for those who I haven't met yet, my name
is Daisy Romo, and I am the GRPS talent recruitment, retention, and development manager. And I'm here today to provide an update on our recruitment and retention efforts. So to start our favorite topic is our
current update on GRE vacancies. So as of this week in terms of our classroom teacher vacancies in particular we are sitting at 87.9 current classroom teacher vacancies and out of those 87.9 vacancies we have 20 teachers that are currently being
actively onboarded by the HR team. So that will drop down to 67.9 very soon. Um, and a snapshot from this time last year, May 2024, GRPS had over 159 teacher vacancies. So, I'm very proud of our number even though we are working um
very hard to get that closer to zero vacancies. Our other GRE vacancies include our license and certified staff. And so, that bucket is sitting at 36.5 total vacancies as of right now. And out of those 36.5 total vacancies, we have
10 new licensed and certified staff that are currently being actively onboarded by the HR team. And on the right, you will see a breakdown of where our current teacher vacancies lie. Um, and as you can see, our special education bucket is the, you know, top kind of
vacancy bucket there. And so we have 33% of our classroom teacher vacancy sitting in special education. And our second highest um category is elementary teacher vacancies where we have 31% of our current classroom teacher vacancies. But I'm proud to note that we currently
have five new special education teachers that are currently being onboarded by the HR team and 13 new elementary teachers that are currently being onboarded by the HR team. Some of whom are fully bilingual in Spanish. So that's very exciting. And some of whom we met at career fairs this year. So
that's also very exciting. In terms of our other vacancies across the district, as of today, we have 13 total vacancies across the exempt and executive exempt employee groups. Out of those 13 total vacancies, eight of those vacancies are filled with interim
leaders. And two of those vacancies have candidates that are currently being onboarded by the HR team. And obviously, our our top um bucket where the majority of our current vacancies lie is that support staff category. So right now we only have five candidates that are
currently in the hiring process with the HR team. And on the right you can see a full breakdown of where those support staff vacancies are coming from. So as you can see around 42% of our current support staff vacancies fall within that Ugresp formerly Grayson bucket. So that
bucket mainly consists of those special education aids and we are working on different strategies to fill a high volume of those special education aid vacancies. Our second highest bucket is that Ugress operations category which mainly consists of the custodians and
skilled trade staff. So as of this week, our total GRPS vacancies are 291 and 37 of those 291 vacancies will be filled with candidates that are currently being onboarded by the HR team. In terms of our recruitment strategies,
we are still very much so maintaining our in-person grassroots talent attraction efforts for both new and existing talent in the field of education at career fairs and hiring events throughout the region. So, out of the hundreds of candidates that we met
so far this semester, 44 teacher candidates have applied for GRPS jobs so far this semester. And some of our career fairs and hiring events have been more successful than others. So, I do want to note a couple successful fairs, including the Michigan State University teacher and education fair, which
resulted in two offers so far for new GRPS teachers. The Calvin teacher and education fair also resulted in two new teacher offers so far for the 2526 school year. And the MDE education workforce fair, which happens on a I
believe by monthly basis. um that the first fair resulted in two new hires for teachers and one new GRPS substitute who has recently applied to participate in the GRPS grow your own program which I will be providing more updates on later in the presentation. Um and we also have
another MDE virtual education workforce fair scheduled for this Wednesday. So hopefully that one will yield even better results. In terms of our other strategies, I know last time we had a couple questions about what are we doing for digital advertising, where are we posting our jobs, and our positions not only are posted on our School Spring
site and the Kent ISD Schoolring site, but they are also automatically posted on sites like LinkedIn, Indeed. Um, and we are also actively utilizing other external job boards like Handshake, Michigan Association of Administrators of Special Education, Michigan School Business Officials, Pure Michigan Talent
Connect, and a few others. Um, and we're constantly evaluating and determining if there are other platforms that we can be using and utilizing as well in the future depending on, you know, what positions we're recruiting for at that time. We also in collaboration with uh
Luke Styer's team and the communications team, we will now have a GRPS careers billboard on US 131 in the months of June and July. So, keep an eye out for that. We are also maintaining very active outreach to potential candidates.
So, not only are we reaching out to potential candidates on LinkedIn, but we are also maintaining active outreach to those career fair candidates um that we met so far this year. In our pipeline of hundreds of different candidates, we are keeping track of what they're certified in, what they are studying, when they're
graduating, so we can capture them as early and often as possible. We also have a pipeline of 30 candidates who are participating in the teachers of tomorrow teacher prep program who expressed interest in working for GRPS specifically. So we're working to make sure that those candidates are hired once they are qualified. Um we also have
a proud Michigan educators pipeline of over 400 plus educators who have expressed interest in teaching or working in education in West Michigan or Kent County in particular. And we have a student teacher pipeline. So the talent team does manage the student teacher placement process and so far from the
2425 school year we have 115 student teacher candidates that we can actively reach out to. So that has been a great tool for retention as well especially because from my conversations at career fairs all of the candidates that are student teaching for GRPS are having a fantastic experience. So having that
feedback firsthand and seeing those candidates apply and gain full-time teaching positions with the district is is an amazing thing to see in the short six months that I've been here. Um we are also working to leverage our external partnerships with organizations
like Davenport University, West Michigan Talent Together, West Michigan Teacher Collaborative, sorry, and Michigan Talent Together. Um so if for Davenport University in particular, I have built a pretty strong relationship through our grow your own program with uh their
associate department chair of the college of urban education and the career services and internship coach from their college of urban education. So we through a couple meetings were trying to determine why are your students not checking their emails? Why are your students in the college of education not showing up to these career fairs and hiring events? Why have I only
met one so far in person? And so they determined that and we determined together that the best way to meet these teachers and get our jobs in front of them and actually get them hired is by meeting them where they're at. So not taking additional time out of their busy schedules um and study time, but really
meeting them where they're at. Um, so we have determined that I will be invited onto campus to present at some in-person classes with students at every stage of their career in the College of Urban Edport so that we can if they're ready to be hired as full-time teachers, hire
them as soon as they graduate and if they're not, get them hired for those special education aid positions that we're trying to fill. So just working on all strategies there. um recently also met with West Michigan Teacher Collaborative, uh some representatives from Michigan Department of Ed and some representatives and leaders from other
local school districts um to really kind of bridge the gap um foster better communication and work towards some improvements in the partnerships between the grow your own programs like WMTC and Michigan talent together and the school
districts like GRPS and our university partners like Davenport. also with Michigan Talent Together. That has been a fantastic partnership that we've been leveraging lately. So, two GRPS employees are already in the Michigan Talent Together
teacher prep program. So, similar to GRPS, they offer a grow your own program through grow your own state funds and their program is longer term. So, they are able to accept candidates who don't have a bachelor's degree. So, while our program is shorter term and our funding
does cut off um in September 2026 for our grow your own program, the because of our timeline, we're unable to accept candidates that don't have a bachelor's degree. However, if any candidate internally at GRPS expresses interest in becoming a teacher and needs to finish
their undergrad or needs to start undergrad altogether, then we've been working with Michigan Talent together to get them into that teacher prep program. Well, it might be longer term. They still have the opportunity to continue working for GRPS and be hired as GRPS teachers as soon as they're qualified. Oh, sorry. As soon as they're qualified.
So, two GRPS employees are already in the Michigan Talent Together program, one of whom is in their final year and will be starting their teacher apprenticeship program at GRPS next school year. Three more GRPS employees were just accepted to their upcoming cohort. So, that's very exciting. And
after forming that partnership with their program director, they are now referring candidates from other areas of the state who are looking to relocate to West Michigan or G or Grand Rapids in particular to work for GRPS specifically. So that has been a great tool for recruitment and retention. We
are also working to better leverage GRPS employees and their own employee networks. Um, so we are now sending out a weekly all staff GRPS jobs email with the updates on new jobs that have been posted that week, how to apply, um, the link to apply, instructions, and our
contact info to open up those lines of communication between candidates internal and external and the careers team. Sorry, quick question for you. Yes. Do you do you offer by chance like any bonuses for teachers who do uh you know
recommend somebody and they get hired as of right now? Not to my knowledge, but I would love to roll that out very soon. So that has been something that has been asked before and has been under discussion but has not been rolled out just yet. Okay. Historically we have
done that. Um when I first came into the district there was and I don't remember what the amount was but for um kind of that incentive of you you have a staff member that you recommend and then they do make
it past their probationary period, right? Um the staff member gets some the new staff member receives something and then the the referring staff member receives something. but to ensure that it wasn't that it was a a more longer
term strategy. I want to say it was like after a period of time right that they received that. Okay. Thank you. So another uh tool and strategy for recruitment has been really doing a deep dive into our application process based on community feedback and
internal feedback from hiring managers um and other members of the HR team. really trying to remove those barriers to entry. Um, and one of the barriers to entry is the length of our job application and the user friendliness. So, after doing a deep dive, uh, we
realized we had over 30 different types of applications. And just so board members know, if there's a different type of application and one person wants to apply for two different types of positions, they have to refill out that information. So, obviously, that is a
very lengthy process. Um, and out of those 30 applications, we had an average of 10 pages or sections to fill out per application. So, it was very lengthy, not user friendly. Um, and really was a barrier to entry because candidates
might only apply to one position when they could have been interested in five. Um, so that really reduces their chances of getting hired by the district even if they are potentially open to any position with the district. Um, so we did a deep dive and really tried to not only reduce the number and types of
applications, but really simplify and streamline the questions that are asked on those applications, remove any redundancies, and kind of mitigate any issues that candidates might have through the application process. So on your right, you can see uh we did a breakdown of over the past six months
what our average timeline looked like from application received to offer extended for each employee group. So overall over the past six months that timeline has been 27 calendar days. And as you can see some employee groups might have a much shorter processing
time closer to about two weeks and some employee groups might have a much longer processing time closer to about 3 months. So one employee group I want to highlight in particular that is on that longer end of the spectrum is GOA. The reason why that is closer to 90 days
versus the average of 27 calendar days is because GOA mainly consists of that JOTC instructor position. And for those JOTC instructor positions, basically the HR team might have a candidate that has been recommended by the hiring manager, but we cannot officially extend the
offer until we get army approval. So that army approval process might take up to three months, which is why that a average timeline looks a little bit longer for certain employee groups um versus others. Um uh as a result of this recent application revamp, we've not
only simplified and streamlined the application types and questions, but it has led to an easier, more efficient, and more user-friendly application submission process for candidates, an accelerated application review time for the talent team, and much faster offer processing time for the HR staffing
team. So really trying to address challenges all around in terms of our retention updates. Unfortunately, due to the active collection and receipt of retirements and resignations, there's no update on the 2425 to 2526 teacher
retention rate yet, but we will have that number um confirmed by late summer. So hopefully by the next time I present, we will have that number for you. In terms of our retention strategies, we are really working to maximize our internal opportunities for growth and
development. So one opportunity in particular is our GRPS grow your own program. And I know I've dived into that in a lot of depth with you before, so you know, don't necessarily need to do that again, but wanted to give you an update on where we're at with that program. So, currently we are clo
closely partnered with both Davenport University and the University of Michigan. Um, participants of the GRPS grow your own program do agree to a two-year teaching commitment for GRPS. And to date, we have 25 total GRPS employees or substitutes who have been
accepted to the program and 19 who are currently participating in the program and have signed on and agreed to that commitment. So, we're very excited about that. And the district is continuing to actively receive and review and follow up on new inquiries, recommendations from principles and eds and applications
on a weekly basis. Um, so hopefully that number will be much higher by the time I next speak with you. Through the grow your own program, we have built a robust substitute to teacher pipeline and paraprofessional to teacher pipeline. So through the grow your own program, we now have 13 GRPS substitutes who have
been recommended and accepted and are on their pathway to becoming fully certified teachers. And we also have six pair professionals or special education aids who have been recommended and accepted to the program to date. And as of this week, we have two grow your own program participants who are already
hired and working as full-time GRPS teachers and doing a fantastic job according to their principles. And we have three more GrowYou program participants who are all currently long-term GRPS subs who have received full-time teaching offers for the 2526 school year. So, working to reduce
vacancies um and coming at that from all angles. And another tool for recruitment and retention has been the English as a second language or ESL cohort that GRPS has in partnership with GVSU. So participants of that program sign on to a three-year teaching commitment to
GRPS. Both new teachers who are signing on and accepting um ESL teaching positions and current GRPS teachers can participate in this program and gain an endorsement in English as a second language and adding that on to their current teaching credentials. And so 31
GRPS teachers have already completed that program and gained and obtained their ESL endorsement successfully. 19 GRPS teachers have joined and started the program during the 2425 school year and 42 GRPS teachers have expressed interest in joining the upcoming cohort
so far. So very excited about that and we are working not only to improve our numbers and increase the number of ESL certified teachers in our school district but also to retain those teachers. So that has been a great tool for that. So thank you.
Any questions for Daisy before she I have a few. Go ahead. Okay. Um regarding Talent Together, I'm not familiar with Talent Together. Can you share more about what they do and how we partner with them? Yes. So they're they have their own grow your own funding from the
state. So they are a grow your own program. They're just an external organization. So districts were awarded grow your own program funding. It's called 27B is the grant. Um and then external organizations like West Michigan Teacher Collaborative and Michigan Talent Together also were
awarded their own bucket of funding. So if for whatever reason our internal GRPS grow your own program cannot support a candidate or an employee um based on their our reasoning for not being able to support them. The main reason is that they don't have a bachelor's degree.
Unfortunately, our timeline for funding cuts off September 2026. So, we need to get our our teachers or our future teachers into an accelerated program. Um, and it's a graduate program. So, it's it's one year. We don't have the timing to support candidates who want want or need to complete their
undergrad. But Michigan Talent Together and West Michigan Teacher Collaborative have longer timelines and more funding. Um, so they're able to actually support candidates who need to finish their undergrad or even need to start their undergrad courses. So, we have candidates that are GRPS subs or GRPS
prayer professionals and special education aids that are working through Michigan talent together and going through that program recommended by the district um who are starting their bachelors from scratch. So, they might be in a three-year program, they might be in a five-year program, but they are still on their pathway to becoming um
GRPS teachers. So, the intention of Michigan Talent Together, if they place someone in an apprenticeship program, which is basically a student teaching assignment at GRPS, the intention is that GRPS hires them as full-time teachers once they're certified. So, any
candidate who wasn't recommended by the district and wasn't already a GRPS employee who wants to work for GRPS, wants to complete their apprenticeship here, we have the ability and basically the option to hire them and get first dibs. So, that's very exciting. Um, and they're also working very actively now
that we have built the relationship with their West Michigan program director. They're working very actively to refer us candidates who are coming out of their program who are now newly certified um or are moving from, for example, the Detroit area or um the UP and wanting to come to West Michigan and
teach here in in a larger or urban district. Um, so that's been a great tool for recruitment and then retention as well because if they're working for us throughout their apprenticeship program, they're almost guaranteed to continue working for us as full-time teachers once certified. How long have we partnered with them as a district? I
mean, I started in October, so I don't know. Okay. Two years. It's about two years. Okay. That's good. That's good. Um, thank you for that. Um, could you share a little bit more about our external partnerships and how like with Davenport, you said that's something we've grown. How do we approach that?
How do we form those? Um, are there any others that we're looking to target? Maybe Kelvin or Aquinus or GVSU? Yes, 100%. So, at every career, I'm I'm new to the Grand Rapids area. I'm not a Grand Rapids native. Um, so I kind of, you know, obviously didn't go to any of
these schools and don't come with the relationships already, but every time I'm in front of one of these schools, um, at a career fair, at a hiring event, at a networking event, I am working to meet these people um, in person and try to build that partnership from the
ground up. So, always having my card on me, always making sure to kind of talk to them in person and see what we can do to support their students and better support their placement initiative because obviously all of these universities are working to get as many of their students hired as quickly as possible as well. So, that's a goal of
theirs just as much as it is ours. Um, but it has been very positive and encouraging to see even if I haven't personally attended one of these career fairs before, when I show up for the first time at GBSU, they said, "Oh, GRPS, we're putting you right front and center." So, as soon as these students walk in, they are going to talk to you.
And they do that because we have a line the entire time at these career fairs and hiring events. We are almost the only school district that has a line waiting to talk to us the whole time. So, it's been a great asset to have one of our special ed supervisors come and accompany me at these hiring events
because sometimes I'm I literally have a line and can't talk to everybody that wants to talk to us. So, tag teaming and having somebody with me to support those conversations and being able to speak from a different lens within the district has been super helpful. Um, and then also just working to to meet and
discuss and see what what we can do. So with Davenport in particular, um I I heard I heard one of the career, you know, people putting on the event. I heard them talking about the College of Urban Ed. And so I literally just went up and talked to him. I come from a
background in uh in sales and staffing. So I'm comfortable talking to new people. And so that's, you know, putting on my sales cap and just going to talk has been a great tool. So having that be being able to build that relationship just at the career fair and then saying, "Let's schedule a meeting. I'm going to
follow up with you via email. Let's schedule a meeting for next week. Who else can we invite to this meeting from Davenport? And so them bringing on people from other parts of the university like Kasa Latina for example. Oh, you haven't had a meeting with them yet? Let me put you in contact with
them. So being able to kind of bridge those partnerships and and build and kind of foster those relationships has been helpful. So in person to start via email and we're scheduling in person. Is there anything formal to anything to formalize a partnership between the district and or is it so relationship?
All of these universities are offering paid partnerships. So, so I'm basically pay and we can put you front and center. We can put your logo on all of our items. We can put you in our career services pamphlet and and those payments cost thousands um per
university. So, we're trying to trying to um basically figure out what other avenues can we use to create this partnership. So, the grow your own program is one tool in particular where we're working to build that partnership with Davenport, GBSU, and U ofM. Um we do have a partnership with GVSU. Their
course work and the and basically the the um masters of ed that they offer for grow your own program participants are three plus years long. So, that didn't fit within our timeline for GRPS grow your own, but we still have that partnership there. Um, and then also just having that contact info for all of
their career services teams, but we're not requiring like anou or anything. Okay, that's so we do have with all the local universities. So, everyone that you mentioned, we have anou for our student teaching. So, maintaining that contact with their field placement coordinators as well has been very helpful because I can just go and email
them and they'll get back to me within five minutes or call anybody that has been a contact at any of these universities. So that's also been helpful because they can point me in the right direction if they're not the right person for one issue in particular. That's good to hear. Well, thank you so much.
Go ahead. Um, just two quick questions. One, you said 27 days is your current average. Yes. What would you What are you aiming for? I would love to aim for closer to two weeks. Two weeks. But just so you know, the application received to
offer extended does include you are fully going through the application process. The talent team is fully reviewing your application. We're moving it forward to the hiring manager who might be out on PTO. So that causes extra days of delay. But the talent team, we are reviewing
applications on a daily basis. So anybody that applies, we're reviewing immediately. We're moving you forward immediately. Um there are some delays on the hiring manager's end. If they don't necessarily want to start interviewing as soon as the first application is received, they might want to wait two weeks to see who applies within a two
week span of time. Um so once those interviews start, they also have to interview multiple candidates. So sometimes those interviews are taking place over one full week or two full weeks. Um from there they might even schedule a second or third round interview. And so coordinating schedules because we don't let just one person
interview candidates. We need to have hiring committees of at least three interview each candidate. So working with schedules that causes further delays. Um but as you could see some of our employee groups are at that twoe time frame. So after they interview they have to be recommended. We have to get
the paperwork. HR team has to get their own offer approval process done. So it's it's it's kind of a lengthy process. I'm very surprised to see that some of our employee groups are at that two week mark. But it would be great if all of them could be. Um, and sorry, my second question is, do the current vacancies
you listed today include the resignation and the the personnel transactions that uh from a week ago? Yes. So, everything is fully up to date. Okay. Thank you. We update everything on a daily basis. I just wanted to piggy back off of uh Trusty
Rodriguez question like the communication when it is uh those timelines like is there can you talk a little bit about the communication for those timelines to support candidates or with candidates? So with candidates as soon as we review their application if
we need further information to determine if they're qualified for that position we're reaching out to them same day to determine or at least ask for that info upfront before we move them forward in the process. candidates who have previously worked for the district. Um, we need to go through a rehire eligibility process internally with the
HR team. So, at that point, we will send them a warming email letting them know, you're under TA review. Your your application is currently under review. Please hang tight. Um, thank you for applying. Once they're moved forward to the hiring manager for consideration and review and interview scheduling, they get an email at that time letting them know they were moved forward. No further
action is is required at this time. If the interview committee decides to move you forward in the process, they'll reach out to you directly. Thanks so much for your patience. Um, from there, as soon as we find out from a hiring manager that they want to interview someone or they'll be reaching out or they want us to reach out to schedule that interview, then we send that
candidate another follow-up um, letting them know you an interview request has been made, communication's on the way. Um, and usually they're communicating pretty quickly once they identify a candidate they want to interview. And then from there, once an interview has been scheduled, if we're notified by the hiring manager that they have scheduled
someone, um then we also send them a notification at that point, just confirming their interview was scheduled, good luck. Let us know if you need anything, reiterating our contact info so they have it. Um at every stage of the process, adding our contact info, and then also um once an interview is
complete, depending on what decision has been made, um we will send them another warming email letting them know interview complete, decision is pending, please hang tight. Thank you so much for taking the time. Um, and from there we send them an update one way or another if they have been moved forward with or
not. If they have not been moved forward with, but they are qualified or recommended for a position in the district in general. Um, for example, we get recommendation forms from hiring managers that say, "We didn't select this candidate for this position, but we do recommend them for the district." then we can reach out to that candidate
directly to encourage them to apply for other positions or schedule a one-on-one call with someone on the talent team to determine what other positions within the district would be a good fit for them and their qualifications. Um, and if they have already applied for 15 different positions with the district, we just thank you for for continuing,
you know, their interest in and applying with the district and hope that someone else, you know, reaches out to schedule an interview, reach out to the hiring managers and recommend that candidate. So, so that has been helpful. We we communicate as much as we receive communications from the hiring managers. So definitely keeping those lines of
communication open with hiring managers has been has been very helpful and having a fully staffed team has helped with that as well. Awesome. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. I do have a question. So as a member of the Grand Rapids School Board, I am um feel like it's my
duty to advocate for um employees and um recruit for GRPS. So, I'm always uh have a recruiting hat on whenever I can, especially in the community, especially for our um aid positions. But um one of
the exciting things that I heard about was our um that GRPS's um alumni gets an automatic interview if they are uh qualified for the position, but I didn't see that on any of the bullets. And I'm
wondering how are we promoting that? I think that is great news and it's anytime I tell somebody that their eyes get big because um automatically you know being promised the interview because I graduated from Grand Rapids public schools is um is extreme benefit
to our um alumni and we have some amazing alumni if everybody in here should agree with that. Um, but I I would like to see it promoted better or more um out in the community. If you qualify for a position and you are Grand
Rapids Public Schools alumni, you should receive an automatic um interview. We that is growing your own. So, I don't have a question because but just just want to put that out there
because I know that's to be true and I'd love to see that publicized more. Thank you. We've talked about that as a kind of a we want you back campaign. Um and making sure that people do understand that um being offered an
interview is once you meet whatever the the criteria is for those particular positions. Um it's not guaranteed that you'll get the position, but you will at least be granted an opportunity if you meet the the minimum minimum qualifications. Yep. and we are
notifying hiring managers when we see when someone indicates on their application that they are a GRPS alum. We are working to notify hiring managers. Um sometimes there might be a lengthier process if they've already worked for GRPS um and we have to go through that rehire eligibility process before moving them forward in the
process. But if they are a GRPS alum, we're notifying hiring managers of that. It is on the hiring manager to fulfill their end of the equation and actually schedule that person for the interview. um but working to remind them of that at every stage and also advertise that option to potential you know GRPS alum
who are working to potentially work for GRPS is a great idea. So thank you. And then my other I wanted to uplift the um process if you have um prior convictions or felonies and how are we communicating to people that they could possibly be
eligible to still work for the district even though they have those. One of the things that um I I'd love to see in our is more of our community members um working in our schools and um we have amazing community members that have amazing relationships with our students
and they're coming to GRPS to try to do something and they have things that might they might feel be holding them back but they're not. And um I just trying to figure out a way we can communicate to our community, we want
you back. And then also stating some of those things even like when voters registration starts, right? Like u we have to tell people um felons can vote. You know, you have to com educate our community on who is uh qualified to work
in our schools and who is not. And so if um someone has a felony from 15 years ago and they're upstanding citizen now, a GRPS alumni, they don't think they can work for our district, but be would be amazing employee. That's that's, you
know, holding us back from getting great community members in our schools and we need more of our community in our schools. Our students need that. Well, just one comment in particular for our application revamp. We did adjust
the language on those legal questions to make sure that candidates know if they have something that's been expuned from their record or is no longer active um in terms of an offense that they do not they are not required to provide that information and mark yes, I have a felony um if it's been expuned. And then
with those questions, we've also simplified the language to make it easier for candidates who are working to apply um so that they know they can answer truthfully and that it's not going to automatically knock them out of consideration. Um but we do have the background check process. Um we do have
the listed offenses, so not everybody is eligible to work for the district, but those who do apply and are eligible are moved forward in the process upon review. Thank you. If our community don't know that, then they won't even go to the application. So, I just want to uplift that we need to be communicating,
you know, to our people, letting them know like like we want you back. We really do. I have one more really quick one. Um I I assume planning's in place to prepare for education fairs and getting on campuses for the fall and winter semester. Okay. Not I would say
majority of their registrations are not open yet. Yeah. And a lot of those education teacher fairs are in the spring. Yeah. So, definitely preparing ahead of time. I'm on Handshake every week. check in. And also for those universities that are not on Handshake, I think you mentioned a couple last time I presented um and I did look into that
after the last board meeting into those universities that you mentioned. Um and they were actually invited to the teacher education fairs that I was in attendance for. So they didn't have their own fairs, but they were in attendance at the fairs that we did, you know, attend. So that was great to see. Cool. And doing Wayne State is one. I
think one of you mentioned Wayne State. That's the only one I'm working to identify if they have any upcoming fairs. Um because they obviously were not invited to any of the West Michigan ones, but we're working to see if we can come on campus at some point and taking opportunities to get into some of these education classes even if there's no
other public schools there. That way we can There are no other public schools. So Dor, we're the first university they've invited to do that. So that was amazing to hear. So I'd love to see more of that. Very excited to start and hopefully I'll take some pictures. Well, Daisy, all of this information is
refreshing. Your role was much needed and it's good to see that we're recognizing where our numbers are not where we want them to be and that it is moving in the right direction. So, thank you for all the work you're doing and thank you for the thorough presentation tonight. Thank you. I do just have one
sorry retention is it should be quickly. Um I am that that's obviously close to everyone's heart up here is retention of our staff. Do what are we doing in terms of like reconnaissance? what how are we checking in with staff to see what is meaningful to them and what kinds of things they'd like to see
promoted. So, we do have some surveys that are in development that I'm hoping to get out over the next month or two um to all GRPS staff and we're working to see if we need to break that down by employee group to better analyze that data or just have an all staff survey go out for and that would be somewhat of a
retention survey to get that feedback from GRPS employees. is do we send out any messages to our our staff that do that we do retain just like for the you know end of the school year, beginning of the school year just welcoming them back to the district.
Um I like the little bags that we get that we get that I got when um just to showing us what our new staff get, but you know our current staff making sure that they you know we uplift that they you know chose to stay is great. I
appreciate it. That's a great idea. I wasn't here last summer, but So, we have done we have done some of that where we do end of the year and we we try to be sensitive of end of the year kind of thank you for your service and then also welcoming folks back at the beginning of
the school year. In addition to each school site, I know that building principles will also do personalized kind of communications with their their own staff. That's right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Okay, moving forward with action items. Purchasing agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the purchasing agenda? I do have a quick question. Mayor um and maybe someone from the finance committee can
illuminate. Um so I'm I'm just looking at the uh modifying the blanket order for legal services. So, we have Miller Johnson and Thrun Law Firm. I just want to clarify what those are for. I know thrun is probably um negotiations.
Is that correct? Yeah. And filling in. So, we asked a lot of questions about that too. Uh in the transition between um Ana leaving um and I think Thomas starting and some pieces like that, there were some additional needs in a gap time period that aren't expected to
continue. Okay. And then Miller Johnson is I think that was actually specifically to that gap and Trun is more specific to the negotiations. I can't tell you the specific dollar amount, but that's accurate. Okay. Okay. I just had questions about that. I apologize for not getting that answer
in. No, that's okay. All right. Do I have a motion to approve? Motion to approve. Second. All in favor say I. I. I. Any oppose? Okay. And moving on with the first
presentation of Kent Intermediate School District bienial election resolution. So for this we need to designate um a board member and I'm just opening this up to remember the date. Monday, June 2nd. Is there
anyone that would like to do that? Otherwise I will volunteer to do that. Do you want to just talk about it offline fine or do we need to say it here? I I can't. I guess that's Would you like I'm available. Would you like to do it? Sure. So, we need to vote for a lot. Well, what we are doing is
approving trusty. There you go. Melton. Okay. I Any support? Support. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. Motion carries. Nomination carries.
Okay. Okay. You got that Sarah? June 2nd. Okay. And then um moving forward resolution to approve the Kent Intermediate School District operating budget. Did you get that? I think we
have Trusty Wade and Trusty W. Okay. All in favor? Say I. I. Any opposed? Okay. um resolution moves forward and approval of the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center board of
directors appointments. So, this one um includes a change in the size of their board. Um and also what was it? The list of trustees.
Yeah, four different trustees. So, can I get a motion to approve the resolution stating the change in size of board and the four named trustees? So, moved. I'll second it. Sure. Did you get that?
All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Okay. Approval moves forward for the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center board of director's appointments. Moving to the consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve
the consent agenda? So moved. Seconded. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Okay. Consent agenda moves forward.
And next on our agenda, we have board president announcements. So that right? Yeah. So um one of the things I already did and that was giving our student representatives their
recognition. Student representatives, you hung with us tonight. Yes. Good job. So again, we are so proud of you and thank you for being a part of our um team up here this year. Um I also wanted to highlight Julie's passing out our
graduation schedule. Um thank you Trustee Wade for adding on a couple ceremonies. I I like when we're well well represented at each of our ceremonies so there's some equity there. We don't favor any of our buildings by
any means and um we're looking forward to a busy week, but one of the most exciting weeks of the year really. So um board members, if you have any questions about how that works, feel free to reach out. Um the team that puts it together
is very organized and everything runs very smoothly. So pretty much you just show up and get to be a part of something really wonderful for our scholars and DRPS. Um I also wanted to just share
that a group of us did go to Lancing last week and we were able to get updates on um different things going on at the state level that will affect education. I I thought it was a pretty informative day. And I know some people are going this
week as well. Correct. So to Yeah, Wednesday. Um we'll have more people going out. It's always refreshing to hear directly from the legislators and to get the details and questions answered um so that we can
actively promote and advocate for the things that will benefit our district. Um I also wanted to just highlight we do have new norms that you all helped um create establish and we voted on in a
work session. So you should have those sitting in front of you. Um I believe they are also uh Julie maybe you could answer this. Are they available at the tables in front too? The new the new norms. No. Okay. So, um I will just highlight
we do have detailed explanation of what each bullet point um entails, but our highlighted new norms are we will stay student centered in all of our work. We will value the voices, perspectives, expertise, experiences, and opinions of
others. We will come prepared and well informed. We will honor the will of the board. We will practice and maintain confidentiality when appropriate. We will model respectful, engaging and timely communication and we will model and promote
transparency. So, um we have agreed as a board to highlight some of those and to keep them um just a more active part of our meetings and our work together. So, uh moving forward, you might see us start a meeting with which norm do we
want to just focus on tonight or remind each other of for this meeting? Um, so yes, we do work on norms and maybe it's not getting to the active work that we need to do, but I think it was really needed for our board and so I'm happy that we established those
together. And that's all I have for tonight. Um, so we will move on to our public comment. We do have quite a heavy pile here, so I am going to move to a twominut time limit.
because our policy does allow for that. Um, Trusty Rodriguez, will you read us into the public comment, please? Yep. During public comment, individuals will be invited one at a time to the podium to address the board.
Before beginning your comment, please state your full name. At that time, we'll start the timer, allowing each indiv each individual two minutes to make their comment. Uh, you will need to complete your comment time upon being notified that two minutes have passed. Um, board members, do not respond to
public comment. Concerns will be brought to the attention of the appropriate staff. We value your input and thanks for sharing with us. And if you give me one minute to Yes. We'll see. I don't know if I know how to use this that fast, so I apologize. Okay.
First up, we will have Jackie Spritzer, followed by Julie Neatling. You know what? I might have to just do it on my And Jackie, if you can just hold on for a second.
Put me on the spot. You're doing great. Hey, look at that. All right. Okay. All right. President Davis, Superintendent Roby, and the board of education. And I have a few questions tonight. Why can some of our scholars in
GRPS miss 50 days of school and be passed on to the next class or not the next grade, especially in early elementary? How will new hires that we want to recruit and get, how will we
support them firsthand? I know someone got hired in two or three years ago. They were they resigned by November. Lack of support. What can we do to help these new
teachers? Why are decisions made without staff input? Case in point, the plastic desk. Elementary students got new desks. They are hard to pull out. They're very loud to pull out. When asked who gave
input, not many teachers could say I gave input. Um, what can we do to make better food? Seattle public revamped their food program. How can GRPS follow? We have so
many farmers in the area. We have so much in Michigan. We have companies Kellogg Post cereal just down the road. Um, also retention. When a retiree comes back, if they've been highly effective,
if they've been effective, do they have to go through the same hiring process? I have somebody I know, this was a couple years ago, it took three months to get her hired back. She was highly effective. She was effective. Three
months of waiting. Hopefully things change. Um, lastly, supply and demand. If we really want to be the best, hike up the pay for all the staff. If there's
lack of demand, if we paid well, everyone would want GRPS teaching positions, staff positions, secretaries, cooks, custodians. I know my time's up. Thank you, Jackie. Thank you.
Following Julie will be Salin Turan. Hi. I wasn't going to speak and I I'm sorry if this makes anybody mad. I'm not speaking for on behalf of all educators or GRPS staff. Um it's just a comment about Mr. Arjus. You're your heart is in
the right place. I appreciate that. I don't need a bonus to try to recruit people. I don't want to work in an understaffed building. It is awful. And I don't want when I got hired in G in 2017, I think there were four three or
four teachers at my level, same grade level on my team, brand new, including me. That's a hot mess. You need experienced teachers to support the new teachers. Um, I'm happy to try to recruit. I We need a staff building. It
is awful working in an understaff and one position. Even if the teacher's out for a day and we can't get a sub, that sucks for everybody. So, it's not a multi-level marketing scheme. It's not an MLM. I don't need to make money off of you guys recruiting. We all want to
get staff. If our pay schedule wasn't in threeear silos, these things people can just look up. They'll come to the job fairs. They'll learn about GRPS, but they're going to do their research. They're going to see that this is the lowest
paying district in the county. They're going to see that. And and those who get hired in in the beginning, um, we train them well, like monastery training. We get, uh, get to go to Spain, you get a master's degree, your ESL endorsement.
Now you're groomed and ready. You can go to Detroit and make $20,000 more. I we we need to retain, not just recruit. Um, it's going to make those new recruits jobs easier if we can keep on the staff that we have.
[Applause] Salem Donna Kelly Dbor after Salem. Okay. Sale Tron again. Um, I want to start by thanking Miss Melton for um, asking those hard questions when it came
to the framework um, around Aberdine and Riverside and holding those four main strategies with including into the facilities. Um, I'm glad you stuck your ground on it and those of you that supported that question as well, I appreciate it. Um, now just hold them to
it and I know it had been two months already. hold it to them till the end of this week and you have it. The public would also like to see that. People that have stakes in this going to those new buildings would like to see that. Um I want to make sure that you all received
the letter from Grand Rapids Monatory High School um that was given to the board secretary or was placed on the desk at least. Do I need to get more copies made? Julie, did you see that pile? Okay, she'll pass it on. Okay.
Um, and then I know that it's been stated that Monastery will receive a new plan before the end of the year, end of the school year. Um, I'm asking that when that new plan is brought back um to bring back info on why um GRPS
University is not a sustainable location. um if that is not changed. Um no offense, but I'm sick of surveys. Um we were mentioned surveys and retention and I'm tired of filling out surveys. I have filled out so many
surveys just this year. You have gotten the responses in previous years and this year alone. Read them. That's it. Stop asking questions. Read the responses and go from there. Um, and again with good heart on retention for goodie bags. I'd
rather have a pay raise, please. I don't need another goodie bag. Thank you, Donna. Kelly Dbor, followed by Lucas Leverett. Thank you for letting me speak. Dr. Roby, Miss Davis, board members and
colleagues that are here. Um, as a longtime employee um of Grand Rapids Public Schools, noted by my wrinkles and the smile lines on my face, I want to talk about three issues that I would like to give you some suggestions on. You know, I'm kind of like the grandma
of my school. Um, all the kids kind of call me their bonus grandma. So, I want to give you just a little bit of reflection here from an old lady that still loves the kids and the scholars. The first thing I want to talk about is competi competition, communication, and then
equity. So on competition, we are competing Grand Rapids public school with a wide variety of school districts. Um, we need to do a better job of shining the light on Grand Rapids and showing all the good things that we do. I am a proud tech STEM teacher at Shamid
Hills. We do so many awesome things at our building. I know Dr. Roy's been out to see our building. I know Mrs. Melton has been out to see our building, but we really don't get that light shined on all the wonderful things we do. We have a a former teacher of the year. We have
a great new principal in the building. We just we do place-based education. We're one of the only elementary schools that does STEM and tech. We're a great place. We'd like to see it shine down a little bit more. Um the other thing in competition is we are the lowest paid
and I am losing friends young teachers who leave after they get two or three years of training and I've helped mentor mentor them and off they go to Katwood and off they go to um well Wayne State's taken a few and I sit there and realize that of all my teacher friends all of
them have left the district except the current people that I'm with and some of that yes can be handled with salary but you know some of it also has to be handled with the way we treat people and retain employees. And just for my last seven seconds, let's think about equity
and making sure that each school has the highlight shined on them, not just the schools that are in the budget that are being reimagined. You know, Shaman, we're in the mainstay of a neighborhood. And I'd like to see us get a little bit of sunlight on us as well. Thank
you, Lucas Le. After Lucas, we'll have Laurel Aparicio Fina. Lucas again. We sink over 5 a.5 million bucks into redundant and overpaid administrators. directors at
141K, executive directors at 196K, quad leaders, assistant superintendent, deputy superintendent up to 194K, a CFO raking in 181K, a corrupt and abusive chief of staff and security racking up 207k, and we pay our superintendent
nearly 300 grand. This is a good time to remind everybody that the median single income for GR is about 35K. This is also a good time to point out that of the 87 people on the list making a h 100red grand or more, only seven have teacher in their title. High
rollers at the top, far too little for those on the front front lines. We like to pretend this is a private sector problem, but here in our public schools, it's glaring and it's the last place for income inequality. If you're here for a paycheck that competes with the corporate world, then get out and go
work in the corporate world. Fire some people and free up funds. Working people are not immune to layoffs and Frank Franklin campus should not be either. Teachers are worn out, burnt out. I was recently informed that at city high multiple educator spouses have told them
that they have about another year of the toxicity here before they have to choose between teaching and their marriage. That is horrible. And that's just one school. Imagine multiplying that around the district. Honey, I love you, but I hate the person they make you into. And if you don't leave this district, I'm leaving you. That is what GRPS is doing
to people's lives. What exactly is student centered about putting the people closest to our students in this situation? You need to have the political will to let some of your peers stand on the wrong side of history and ethics while you rise above the
traditional muck of GRPS. Open the negotiations now. Do the right thing. [Applause] after Laurel Aparicio Farina Martin
Gando. My name is Laurel Aparicio Fina and I came here today to speak about the district's recent solution to combat uh chronic teacher burnout. Many teachers like myself received an email with a survey from Opportunity Thrive's
educator wellness coaching program. This survey provided the teachers with a series of questions to identify what exactly is leading us to burnout and then pair us with a wellness coach who can help us address these hurdles. I would like to pause here and make a
request of the board that the results of these surveys be reviewed and publicized so that we can better understand the problem and solve it as well as champion the value of transparency that our district claims to adhere to. I will admit initially I filled out the survey
and signed up for a wellness coach purely out of spite. I was more than a little insulted by the insinuation that I was doing something wrong and that I myself was the reason for my experiences of burnout. However, I am here
today to say that the time that I spent with my wellness coach Kristen has been a very positive experience. She has affirmed me my experiences and supported me with good advice. With all of this said, what
Kristen and other wellness coaches are able to provide, while valuable, are not enough to mitigate the sheer amount of burnout that our teachers are teachers are fe facing. Opportunity Thriv's educator wellness program cannot replace the
district's responsibility to value, respect, and appreciate our teachers. While we appreciated the cake that was delivered to us during teacher appreciation week, what we would appreciate, actually what we need is competitive wages and equitable planning
time. [Applause] After Martin Gondo, we'll have Marta Johnson. Hello board. Um, I just want to preface
this by saying that I think that um, most of you are all good intention as as we are and I think that we're all on the same team. Um, I want to talk not about money but about time. Um, basically I think that uh there's too many required programs
and um, a lot of them feel are from what I've heard and read that a lot of them are left over from past years. Um, and it creates this completely unrealistic, impossible set of expectations for teachers. Um, and they're like basically
never able to actually do the required materials. Um, and that's amplified in theme schools because we also have other programs that we're doing IB and art in our school, but there's also the Monasuri other schools. Um, it's, you know, amplified.
So, um I don't know the details, but it would seem reasonable to say that maybe as a district we standardize like the core curriculum and then allow um local leaders to control like the minor details like SEAL or number corner or
field trips um programs that are great like one book one city but maybe doesn't fit for every school because maybe they're doing something else that's related. Um so I think the required curriculum first and foremost should be clear like we all have a set curriculum and its
core and um and it's and it should there there should be some sort of calculation like a time calculation to see if it's actually possible to do that. That way um we're not trying to keep playing catch-up with things that is not essential for each grade level. And then
also adding on to like you know we need to differentiate there's some students who are behind you know that should be part of the calculation too. So yeah that's it. Thank you Mara Johnson and then
Sarah Sochowski. Close. Thank you so much. Um, my name is Marta uh Johnson and I have two kids at Grand Rapids Monasuri. Um, I want to give a quick shout out. Hi, this is new for me
so thank you for putting that up. That's great uh for visibility for the speakers. So, appreciate that. Um, I want to first say um for Grand Rapids Monastery, I fully support the previous comments about the interest in looking
at Grand Rapids uh or GRPS University or GRPSU whatever we're calling it. um not only for the the better size uh fit for the needs that we have as a school to actually grow um but also because it's like location-wise a better midpoint um
and it doesn't crowd all of these theme schools together um I think it's just a few blocks away from city so it would be really great to have a little more coverage in the city um so that we don't have I don't know right now we call them food deserts or for this situation be school deserts um throughout the city it
would be uh wonderful to have something a little more centrally located. Um, and I think you'll be able to retain a lot more people that won't have to add, you know, half an hour or so to their time. But more importantly, I'm here because, um, I want to stand in solidarity with our educators and our staff that are seeking a fair contract. Um, I heard
that we have new norms, um, to be committed to transparency and putting students first. And I think opening up contract negotiations is a critical step to do that. Um, and I think making sure that whatever is negotiated takes our educators um, from the lowest paid uh,
to the highest paid in the region. Um, I think that will address a lot of our problems in staff retention. Um, clearly this is a an issue that other teachers and educators um, are echoing and pay equity is such a huge issue um, around for for a lot of people, but I think for
especially our district, we've been struggling with this um, for so many years. I've been attending these board meetings and it's been a consistent theme. Um, let's fix it now. Right now, please. Thank [Applause]
you. U, we did just receive another comment card at 9:15, so I'm just going to say we're not going to collect anymore, so we'll cut that off for now, but I will allow that last comment. Um Sarah Soakowski.
Okay, thank you. Um Mallerie Salamango. Oh, Miss Mango. I didn't Yes. I didn't know you had a longer name than Miss Mango. Mallerie Salamango. It's pretty fun. And
And following you will be Jesse Mden Hill. All right. Hello. Um, my name is Mallalerie Salamango, otherwise known as Miss Mango. Um, I spoke earlier this year in January about my uh, resource course
case load. Um, and I just wanted to say a couple ways or one way to show appreciation for teachers and help our teachers, sorry, is by giving support. Teachers need support, especially new teachers who are trying to learn. even if it's just a quick little check-in
with them. Anything is better than having to seek it out yourself, especially when many new teachers might not know that they need help or how to ask for help um that they need. Uh there is so much that teachers are doing every
day that we need help from time to time. This is an overwhelming job. There is always a new situation. Copies to be made, papers to be graded, IEPs that need to be written, data that needs to be collected, students that need help, tasks that need to be done, schedules
that need to be changed again and again and again. The list just goes on and on and on. Teachers are doing the jobs of like three people in one person. Um, when you're just trying to stay afloat with new things added to your plate every day, the last thing on your
mind is to ask for help. Especially when you're so used to being overwhelmed, it becomes a new state of being. You just get used to being overwhelmed and getting new responsibilities added to your already hectic schedule all of the time. For all of the help and support
that teachers give to others, you should we should get that in return. They shouldn't have to seek it out and email for help. They shouldn't have to ask for help. I spoke in July uh in January, not July, that hasn't happened yet. in January when my case load was at 21,
which is one over the limit. Oh. Um, after that meeting, I was fact checked, not given adequate support. Now I'm at 25 and have just been sent support for the last couple weeks of school. Putting all the pressure on teachers is how islands are created. That's how you
isolate teachers, burn them out. That's how you lose teachers like the resource teacher before me. And that is why I am resigning from my position. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Right in front of you, too. After Jesse will be Matt Marlo,
Matt, I'm so sorry. I should have had you first. No, I had up that basket, so it's okay. Okay. Thank you. Do you want to come? Hi, my name is Jesse. Um, I have two daughters, um, who have both have two amazing teachers at CA Frost Elementary.
Um, and actually recently I went to camp with them. Uh, and I was watching the teachers and show kind of showing my amazement as they would go from talking to a student who didn't really have enough adequate um, re um, materials with them for camp. They'd go straight
into kind of a conflict management situation with two other students. And then finally like a student would come up to them and tell them show them their rock and they would be so excited for them and it was just really touching and amazing and I knew they have a tough job but it would really brought it to light and ascially as I was leaving camp and I
was thinking gosh I really I didn't get a good enough teacher appreciation gift for my kids teachers. Um but then I started thinking like why am I the one feeling guilty about not getting a good enough teacher appreciation gift? And um so I'm hoping that we can do something a
little bit more about that uh about that. Um you know and I was also you know thinking we it one thing that we hear a lot too about this time of year is we start talking about next year and who um are you know who what students want what teacher they want or even some parents
say that but um it's actually one of the first things I ask is well have you heard if any any resignations um for next year? So, what I want we need, as Benny said tonight, we really need to work on retaining our teachers. Um, as a parent and a community member, I'm
embarrassed by how low we pay our teachers in this district. And, um, if the districts wants to work on building trust, I do think that they should open the contract negotiations. Um, so, um, people, we can see and we can actually hear what's being said and, um, let's
work on that. I do know it's it's it's tough, but um I think that's at least an open negotiation would be a great place to start. Thank you. [Applause] Following Matt Marlo will be Jolene Andrews. Good evening. My name is Matt
Marlo, president of GRA. Thank you, President Davis and Dr. Roby and trustees of the board. Um, thank you everyone for coming out tonight. I know it's been a long night. Um, definitely wanted people to share their stories because there's a lot of different
viewpoints that you can have. Um, a couple of things came up tonight. You know, definitely a student centered focus or scholar focused and then transparency. I just think about the kids that don't have teachers on a regular basis. I know we're working on
our vacancy numbers. We have 89 right now with 36.5 of licensed staff and it's I mean it's been going on for a couple years. We're at 212 and then we were at 189.5. I mean over and over and over again if that's really your focus. I
mean that's that's your focus every day. It's like how do we get how do we take care of this? It isn't about someone else's job or who wants to compartmentalize and just focus on assessment and data or that just wants to focus on, you know, it or focus on
this. It's it's really about the kids. I mean, we can still we can still do a lot of things without having all these things that we think we need to have, but it's not that important. We we need contact time with kids. So when teachers
say, "We need to get paid more," it isn't like, "Give me more money. Give me more money." It's more like, "I can't do this without a fully staffed building." It's just too impossible because you're getting torn in so many different ways. You can't do this job and that job at
the same time. Um you know, if you're a business owner, if you work in um you know, a hospital, you can't do every single job. You we're relying on your teammates to help you with that. And when teachers come up and say they don't feel support, they're not supported. I
mean, you you can't do it all. So, if you're not having contact time with kids, then I think we need to start turning that around and everybody all hands on deck. Thanks for your time tonight. [Applause] After Jolene Andrews will be Tara
Robbins, Jolene Andrews, Southwest Elementary. In honor of teacher appreciation week, I would like to tell you some basic ways to make educators feel appreciated so that we can continue giving our best to our students. Keep our classrooms at reasonable temperatures. Send exterminators when
there are rodents the first time we ask. Give us relevant training for what we teach, but also for things like safety procedures. Respond to emails. Give us our required materials before
the school year starts in the correct language. Make it easy for us to get paid for the extra work we do. Listen to and find solutions when we bring safety issues like carbon dioxide levels or water quality issues. Allow us to have 247
building access. Keep our school buildings safe and clean. Give us dedicated staff for interventions. Plow school parking lots before Franklin campus gets plowed. Hold students and parents accountable so that us educators can do our jobs. When
you ask us to give feedback for free, do something with it. Keep our school buildings fully staffed before overstaffing Franklin Campus. Ask for teacher input on purchases for the classroom, furniture, subscriptions, curriculum, etc. When teachers beg you for four years to make field trip
paperwork easier, do it. When you hire an outside organization to give you recommendations, follow them. Ask us how you can support us and then actually do it instead of deflecting, defending, and denying. Be transparent. Pay us what we're worth. When you sign a three-year
contract and say you'll find a solution for the lack of planning time for elementary teachers, do it before the contract expires. And when your house is on fire, put it out. [Applause]
Following Tara Robbins will be Alli Garwood. I start. Okay. Hi, I'm Tara Robbins. I'm a math coach in the district. Um, I work with several of your teachers. Um, I've been here for two years now. Um, I think
that center focus is our children, right? And um the big thing I've seen is that we have not moved on from COVID in your district. Um it's huge. It's made a huge impact on teaching. It's made a
huge impact on our children and other districts have adapted to that. You have not. Um you are not putting in the interventions for those kids. You're not putting in the pair of pros. You're not putting in the supports. and your
teachers are just falling apart from it. We talk about the emotional things that the kids went through for COVID. We talk about the SEO ports for the kids. The teachers needed too. Um I don't know how many teachers I've worked with or tried to work with and
they have no planning time. How am I supposed to work with them if they have no planning time? Um I just feel like they're going through the systems. are filling out these surveys and nobody is coming in to check on them. So, I'm
inviting all of you, please come in their schools, come in in their classrooms. I've never seen any of you in our building. Um, they do fill out those surveys and some of them they go to the principal and the principal does not
come back and reflect. They go to the person that's above their principal and that person doesn't follow through. I've seen it. I've heard it. Someone come in and check on your teachers. They need to be heard or you're going to lose them. Retaining is
not bringing in new teachers. Retaining is keep the ones you have because I'm telling you, you bring all those new teachers in, they don't last in your district. You're one you're one of the hardest districts out there. I've lived here my whole life and it's always been
don't go to Grand Public. That's what you're known as since I was born here. Don't go to Grand Rapids public. Stay away from it. That's what's out there. In fact, Kenwood Hills now is known as another Grand Rapids public school
because they've went down and lost so many families. That is not a reputation you want. Tara, we have to move on. Time. Thank you. Garwood Garwood, sorry. Followed by D. Jones.
Hi, I'm Ellie Garwood and this is Zabiba. Um, I want to take a moment to talk about special education because if we're talking about being student centered, we can't leave students with
disabilities out of the conversation. I've worked in your district now for two years as a sub. Um, working in special education primarily. Um, I'm still getting my degree at Grand Valley. So, I'm one of the student teachers that you'd be aiming at hiring. And I've
really thought about my decision on where I want to work. And it's been hard. Right now, I'm a long-term sub at Caesar Chavez for a K1 ASC classroom. a class of kids, eight amazing kids that haven't had a teacher, a consistent
teacher since December. These kids have been at a serious disadvantage from their learning, from everything, just from the lack of consistency and care, from the revolving door of teachers they've had.
And if you know anything about autism, just the revolving door, that that aspect is so terrible. But luckily, we have people like Zeibbo who stood who stood by them this entire time. But if you want to keep people like Zeiba and
these amazing seas, you need to keep contract staff. You need to keep these sea. You need to raise their wages. It's ridiculous. We also need to talk about safety. Because having one staff member with
eight kids with autism in a classroom is illegal and it's unsafe. [Applause] Hello. Um I'm Ziva and I am a CCW paraprofessional. I am no way licensed
to be one with eight kids by myself. There has been so many safety issues that's happened in my class. I've talked to everyone, the principal, the higherup people, everyone very much knew the safety issues that were happening in just my class. Oh, hi. Sorry this time.
Okay. Well, anyways, just wrapping it up. Basically, there needs to be change ASAP because this is very much illegal. Very much legal. Just for future reference, Zabiva, if you had, you could have filled out a
card and spoke for two minutes, but because it was tied with hers, it's just following D. Jones would be Christina Vandermir. How y'all doing? I'm D. Jones. I believe I'm the best social advocate in King County, regardless of anybody thinks. I think I'm the boldest
I think I'm the boldest leader and the best effective leader. Uh a couple days from now, I'll be going to uh the consensus event in Toronto, Canada. Uh Eric Trump and Bo Hines, who handles Donald Trump's crypto reserve, is going to be there. I'm speaking in the uh head
of the uh Black Rockck, 11 trillion Black Rockck is going to be there. I'm speaking to you guys about this because we have a partnership at that we're going to be doing at the Burton Middle School. Cryptocurrency is on here. So after I come back here from you guys, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have some
of the best influential, powerful, richest companies on the planet have some connections from some of the richest powerful people on earth and being able to bring those resources back here so I can enrich my community. So I definitely believe I am the best social advocate and I'm going to change the
economy. I'm going to change the economy. I'm going to be a billionaire. I'm going to be a trillionaire. But I'm going to be giving back to GRPS ethically and just and creating opportunities as I've already had $32 billion company Epic Games educate the kids at Ottawa Hills High School on August 1st. They're going to be coming
back a $32 billion company educating our public school system again. A cool opportunity. So all the parents, GRPS, you guys, uh we had a partnership before and things didn't go right this time, but let's be sure that we get the building agreement earlier so then we
can advertise this. you guys can push this opportunity to all of the students because there's no reason that Burton Middle School, our worst underperforming, one of our worst underperforming schools. We don't fill this out with kids that can get college direct education from colleges and universities, some of the best colleges
and universities on earth are looking to engage. Even the congresswoman and the senators, US senators, I was just with the governor's office and everybody today. I am the best social advocate in Kent County. I'm going to keep standing on that. I'm going to keep saying that because I'm going to keep fighting for social justice and social equity for the
education, public education. Thank you, Christina Vandermir. Hi, my name is Christina Vandermir. I wanted to address my remarks today to the board not as a current GRPS uh teacher but as someone whose goal is to work in the GRPS school
district. I am recently returning to teaching after 11 years in the active duty Navy. Uh after going through the teacher type uh teacher education pipeline and initial licensing in 2012 and working for a year as a paraprofessional. I decided to take a pause away from teaching for a number of
reasons. Primarily the unsustainable pay structure and inevitable burnout I saw in my future. I loved my students. I loved my fellow teachers. But I was not ready to be young, broke, and fighting the bureaucracy that teachers have to fight every single day. Having done what
I set out to do in the Navy over the past 11 years, uh I am returning to teaching, and I am doing so against the advice of basically everybody in my life. Um, I think this can best be summed up by one of my prior Navy co-workers who advised that if I was insistent on becoming a GRPS teacher,
his best advice was, quote, "You should marry rich." That's not part of my plan. Uh, so I really hope that in the upcoming contract negotiations, we can work on paying educated professionals who require a college degree a actual living wage that takes that into
account. Thank you very much. Okay, that concludes our public comment for tonight. Moving on to superintendent comments. Um, just very quickly reminder that graduation kicks off Monday through Thursday of next week. We have two graduation ceremonies planned each
evening 5 and 700 p.m. The schedules will be posted online as well as you have a copy of um in front of you on the the deis. Also, we have rain day. will, excuse me, look for the rain location if it happens to rain because all
graduations are planned for Houseman Field with the exception of our graduation taking place at the Grand Rapids Learning Center which will be at um the GRCC campus. reminder that for our community as a whole, we have the
board is doing something new related to um the GRPS board news brief and it's um in a couple of different languages, but it's just an overview of who our board members are as well as opportunities to learn around some of the governance work
that is taking place across our our district. Um Miss Andrews reminded everyone of Mindshare. Mind share is one of the um premier events that takes place every spring related to kind of those extra um programming
opportunities. We raise money. GRPS Foundation which is our um we are the sole benefactor of the work that they do so that young people can experience field trips and participate in sports. In a lot of districts there's paytoplay and we have not had that experience in
the time here in Grand Rapids. And so it is very important to support that. Uh again, congratulations to our um our seniors. We look forward to seeing you next week and very excited for the what
we know will be a very bright future. And so just very excited for all of you um as you continue on with your last four days of high school. But who's counting? That's all I have. Thank
you. Okay. Board member comments. We'll start with Trusty Morino tonight. Yeah. No comments. Okay. Trustee Melton. Um well, I'm just excited about a lot of the things that I did hear tonight. I I heard several people
talking about listening and and adjusting um to what we're hearing. And um I know that's one of the goals of everyone um in these positions. And I was just thinking about the fact I just looked it up. We are 154 years old as a district. That's pretty uh that's some
ingrained structures and systems that we have inherited. Um all of us. So as we try to figure out how to be what we are right now to who the community is right now, um I just am grateful for the ways that the community is showing up and speaking up and representing um kids so
well. And I just um want to just I guess give an encouragement to the the work that often does seem slow but really is huge. Um so anyway, I'm grateful to be in this position and for the participation of everyone today. Trusty. Yes. You always say it with the
accent. I appreciate it. I like it. No. Okay. So, um yeah. Uh, you know, I think there are some important conversations had, some important things shared by the public, by our presenters, um, in the
district. You know, I I don't I don't believe we're sitting here again, some someone mentioned, right, like you're all well-intentioned, right? And and I agree with that. Um, I don't feel like we need to, you know, necessarily share every single thing. I I believe in
transparency first and foremost, but I also think sometimes and and some board colleagues might think this is interesting for me to say, but you know there needs to exist a little bit of trust, right? That uh that you know happens between you voting us in and
then us doing the work that you elected us to do. Um however, sometimes I do also believe that we have to be transparent and say, "Hey, you know, this is exactly what I believe." Um, so I'm going to just say a few things that that I believe um, you know, that I support moving forward that others have
mentioned. I do uh support open negotiations. I do support um, you know, I don't got to clap either, but um, you know, I do support eliminating positions in our district as you know, as needed. Um, reducing administrative
pay. We got to we got to think boldly if we want to do the things that we want to do. So, don't think that I'm just up here, you know, thinking, "Oh, yeah, we're just going to keep everything the same and things are going to change." Um, but at the same time, you know, again, I I ask that you trust the work
that we're doing as a board. Um, we we are having those conversations. Again, not everyone can be everywhere all the time uh to hear those conversations. But also, I I used to work at the district that, you know, I was a long-term sub at East Leonard. I was the CCW, East Leonard, youth advocate at East Leonard,
North Park, Caesar, Chavez, Alger. I I love GRPS. I want us to thrive. I want us to to be the best in West Michigan and and all of Michigan. And so I just again ask that you keep your trust that we're we're trying to fight for teachers, for all our staff, um, and for
our families. Thank you, Trusty Wade. I echo Jose in the um conversation around trust. A lot of times um we're sitting up here asking questions, but
the but there's brave questions and big questions being asked outside of this boardroom and um our community um deserves a group of people like this. We are we are um not keeping up with the
status quo. We are pushing back. We're doing board work um that I didn't see two years ago when I first started here. So, I'm proud of the work that we are doing. Um I'm happy for all of the graduates. I can't wait for next week to watch you
too. You guys pause because we will be taking a selfie. Um um I'm proud of the um seal of biiteracy um that our district is graduating 99 students with
um including my own who grew up in Grand Rapids public schools and at Southwest and she'll be earning a syllabi literacy and I'm very proud of that as a black you know family. Thank you. Um, congratulations
to the scholars in that. What a beautiful essay that was written about a country that I am proud to be in and proud to see his vision and I pray that that boy's vision comes to.
Um, thank you for the STEM greenhouse students that came out and spoke. I think it's important that we uplift our programs that are inside of our school, but yet not oversaturate our teachers with programs. I heard you. Um, and that's it. Thanks, Trusty. Will you s
Yeah, thank you. Um, I told myself in January I'd use my board comments sparingly. Um, one of the things we did vote on today was the Child Discovery Center, and this is actually something I had a lot of, uh, moral qualms about, not because of the Child Discovery Center or the work they're doing there.
They do a lot of fine work. Um, but just how that school or really the structure of that school being a charter fits into the larger ecosystem of public education and I talked with a lot of people um this past week and weekend about it and I ended up voting yes and I just want to
take this moment to explain why and some of my thinking around other things. Um, and a a mentor of mine brought up the point that the work they are doing is serving a vital need in the core of our community. um with a lot of kids getting access to early childhood care and early
education that they otherwise uh wouldn't get. And the fact that our district has the opportunity to be a part of that is really important. And if we didn't continue that, then that would leave a void that there are groups that would would come in to try and fill that void. Um and what I mean by that is
other charter organizations, other chartermies that unlike public education do not have the best interest of students at heart. Um I just don't believe that. And again, this is my own personal thought. Um, and they certainly don't have the interest of their staff at heart. Um, so that was a hard vote
for me to take, but um, in the in the larger context of what we are all trying to do here, all of us, um, to make sure that we're educating children and building a better world and community for them. Um, that's why I voted yes on that. And for me, that fits into a lot of the other other work we're doing
around public education. Um, that I do think is important. And I'm glad there there are people in the community pushing us to work harder. I'm glad there's people here that are thinking how can we do this in a measured way. And I think all of those elements are are important. And some of the things I'm thinking about um because we are up
against that. Somebody used the language of competition. Um and I hate that language in education. But there is the competition against the threat from charters, the threat threat from these other things uh to defund the work we're trying to do. Um, and as we're thinking about this, uh, and as I'm thinking
about it, a lot of the stuff that I'm really focused on, um, and I want to say a lot of my co, all my colleagues are, as we're talking about the facilities master plan, how can we make sure we have an agile school district that has the resources to serve everybody, um, equitably, right? Um, we can't do
everything for everybody all the time, but what can we do well and make sure it's accessible to every child in our community? um looking at other things structurally in the district uh to move quick enough on this. I know there's a lot of heartburn around consolidating buildings and closing buildings and how
do we do this well? Um and I just firmly believe we need to do that um you know thoughtfully but also quickly uh that way we do have a thriving school district here for another 155 years. So, I just want to share that. Um, use the opportunity talking about the Child Discovery Center to share my thoughts on
that. And I thank everybody on this board and everybody in the community for continuing to be good partners and advocates and pushing us and saying maybe we should think more diligently about this stuff. Um, so that's what I've been thinking about with that. Thank you, Trusty Davis.
Wow. Um, no, I appreciate a lot of what be what has been said tonight. Um, I won't politic is the only word I can think of, but I just don't want to repeat a lot of things that have already been said that are definitely true for me. I will just say thank you all for coming here and for sharing your thoughts. Um, without contradicting
anything that my other colleagues have said, I just want to add that it is valuable for you all to come here and continue to hold us accountable. So, thank you for choosing to spend your night this way. Trustee Kilpatrick, just gratitude to you all for being here. I appreciate your
advocacy holding us accountable. I also appreciate working with this group of nine who are ready to make hard decisions and have brave conversations and I'm glad and proud to be a part of those. So, thank you all for your trust. Um maybe we're still earning some of
that and we're we're open to do that. So, thank you and I do not have additional comments tonight. So, meeting adjourned.