GRPS Board of Education Meeting -- September 15, 2025

001Okay, I would like to welcome everyone to the Grand Rapids Board of Education meeting. Today is Monday, September 15, 2025. I would like to call this reconvened meeting to order. Prior to taking the role, I am going to read a president's statement. Um, I will probably read this again uh once we have more of an audience here. Forgive me, it is on my phone. Tonight, we re we reconvene as a board, as colleagues, as neighbors, as educators, as parents, as people united by our community's children. Last week, Monday, we did not let that purpose lead us in our work. Last week, Monday, we let disruption, disorder, verbal outbursts, bullying tactics, yelling, and anger lead us away from the heart of why we are all here. I am ashamed that some of the students we serve

002were witnesses to that chaos. I regret that I did not take the steps needed as president to shut down disruption sooner. I regret the role my inaction had in leading to further bullying, degrading of our superintendent, staff, and board, and breakdown of our meeting. What happened on Monday is unacceptable and will not be tolerated at our board meetings. It's time for all of us to go back to the basics. the law, our policies, our board norms and moral imperatives will help us set the stage for a productive meeting and for keeping our kids at the forefront of all we do. I've made sure copies of relative content are available tonight so that all of us can be informed of the truth in how we must and have agreed to run our board meetings. Let us

003all be reminded that a school board meeting is a meeting of the board in public. Public participation is limited to the public comment period. According to open meetings act, a school board may establish public participation rules that assist in balancing the board's interest in conducting a meeting in an orderly manner with individuals rights under the first amendment. Last week, I allowed for too many people to shout out or try to engage in conversation outside of public comment. This disrupts our work and drags us off course. The Open Meetings Act also gives very clear guidelines for what a board may do when disorderly conduct takes place. If during a meeting a citizen engages in disorderly conduct or acts in a manner resulting in a breach of the peace, a school board may take steps to control

004the behavior or even remove the individual from the meeting. The revised school code permits the board president to order the removal of a citizen who after notice from the president persists to behave in a disorderly manner. This provision also empowers the president to order a law enforcement officer or other person to take the disorderly person into custody until a meeting is adjourned if the person refuses to withdraw from the meeting. Further, the Michigan Penal Code states that a person is guilty of a misdemeanor if he or she makes or excites any disturbance or content or contention in any public meeting where citizens are peacefully and lawfully assembled. While I believe our board truly wants to hear from our community, we have not done a great job of setting boundaries as to what steps over the

005line into disruption. Let this serve as a notification that moving forward, if there are interruptions or disturbances, I will be giving warnings and asking people to be removed. This is well within my right according to MASB and the Open Meetings Act. The Open Meetings Act also allows this to be based on the president's discretion. I will not allow for our superintendent, her staff, or our board to be attacked with outbursts and insults. Everyone in this room has a right to feel physically and emotionally safe. I will also exercise my right to recess whenever necessary because of disruptions. When groups of people are cheering or clapping or shouting or even talking to each other, it's hard for us to focus on our meeting. I will simply recess when my asks for quiet or my gavvel pounds

006are ignored. As you know, we have changed the place of our meeting to accommodate the larger attendance. We will plan to have all regular board meetings moved to Ottawa Hills for the foreseeable future. We will likely be moving the location of our work sessions as well. Other changes will be made as we plan to focus as a board on how to adjust and rethink our spaces, our procedures, and our policies in regard to board meetings. We will not accept a meeting like the one we experienced last week. Over the weekend, Mr. Rodney Brown made a post and it really just hit the heart of what's been on my mind all week. He has agreed that I share part of his statement tonight. Grand Rapids Board of Education's moral imperative statements and operating norms top two

007points are every scholar will feel physically and emotionally safe regardless of which school they attend. and we will stay student centered in all of our work. This is our charge. It's not optional. It's the heart of what it means to serve. We must stand together and actively discourage harmful rhetoric. We must commit ourselves to modeling what respectful disagreement looks like and to creating environments where every student, staff person, and our cit citizenry feels safe, seen, and valued. Sorry. The time to change is now for our children, for our future. Hate has no dignity. There's no humanity and hate and no place for hatefulness in our school system. Those were Mr. Brown's words. We all want what is best for our children. The manner in which we work toward that goal matters. All of our words

008and actions are being listened to and watched by our future generation. Let us not let a hostility and noise prevent us from doing the work needed to reach our goals. >> Thank you. Trustee Rodriguez, can you call the role? >> Yes. Trusty Moreno, >> present. >> Trusty Rodriguez is here. Trusty Williams, >> did you say Williams? >> Yep. >> Present. >> Trusty Williamson, >> present. >> Trusty Davis, >> present. >> Trusty Kilpatrick, >> present. >> Trusty Melton, >> present. >> VP Wade, >> present. >> President Bek, >> here. >> We have a quorum. The Grand Rapids Board of Education would like to correct a procedural error wherein the board adjourned an error rather than go into recess until the next scheduled board meeting. This has to be reflected in the September 8th, 2025 minutes. >>

009Yes. So, I am moving to resend the motion to adjourn adopted at the Grand Rapids Board of Education meeting on September 8th, 2025 um and replace it with a motion to recess until September 15, 2025, which is today's date, to a location to accommodate all individuals who want to participate during the meeting. >> Do I have support? >> Second. >> All in favor say I. I. >> Any opposed? The board has additional business we need to do in close session in regard to our ongoing negotiations with the Grand Rapids Education Association as well as a legal opinion. Can I get a motion to amend the agenda to include a close session to include collective bargaining and a legal opinion? >> So moved. >> Support. Mr. Rodriguez. Um will you make that and then we'll Yeah.

010>> Yeah. Um so I'll move to amend the agenda to include a flow session including collective bargaining and illegal opinion. Um and then I'll take >> Amber support. All right. >> And we'll take the role on that one. >> Okay. All right. Trusty Moreno. >> Yes. >> Trusty Rodriguez. Yes. Trusty Williams. >> Yes. >> Trusty Williamson. >> Yes. >> Trusty Davis. >> Yes. >> Trusty Kilpatrick. >> Yes. >> Trusty Melton. >> Yes. >> VP Wade. >> Yes. >> President Bek. >> Yes. >> That motion passes. >> Okay. And Trusty Rodriguez, can you make a motion to read us into close session? >> Um, may I make a motion actually to approve the agenda as it has been amended? Sure. Um, uh, can I get a second for that? Seconded. >> All in favor say I.

011>> I. >> Any oppose? Motion carries. >> That passes. Okay. So many votes. All right. So now I move that the board go into close session for the purpose of a strategy and negotiation session connected with the negotiations of various collective bargaining groups at the request of the superintendent as permitted by the open meetings act section 81c and for the purpose of considering regal written legal opinion of councel to the board which opinion is exempt from disclosure under section 131G of the freedom of information act. This close session is called pursuant to the open meetings act section section 81H. Um and I will have to do a roll call vote for that. Uh trustee Moreno, >> do we get a second? >> Oh, excuse. Thank you. May May I have your second >> support? >>

012Thank you. >> All right. Trusty Moreno, >> yes. >> Trusty Rodriguez, yes. Trusty Williams, >> yes. >> Trusty Williamson, >> yes. >> Trusty Davis, >> yes. Trustee Kilpatrick, >> yes. >> Trusty Melton, >> yes. >> VP Wade, >> yes. >> President Buchek, >> yes. >> That passes. >> Okay, we'll move into close session. [Music] >> I read at recess and I like doing math. >> We've been learning math, reading. We've been doing PBL. It's been fun. >> Good. Great program that we have going on. Students are learning hands-on experiences, lots of field trips, project based learning. >> See, so those are both really good details. >> Diet tribe having us do this kind of poem, >> heavy math, heavy reading, reinforcing what our scholars need to be successful as they enter into the next school

013year. >> In our room, we're doing a fiber arts. >> Maybe you can use some of this. WCAT is one of those programs where it's very hands-on. >> You like poke stuff into it and you would like make cool flowers and native plants. >> You can read about it, you can hear about it, but when you actually put your hands on it, it teaches you more in depth. It stays ingrained a lot longer. >> That was really fun. >> We need to have a place in the space for our scholars to continue to learn and grow over the summer. Making sure that the summer loss is not incurring. If people were just not doing math over the summer or reading and just playing video games, then they would forget most of the stuff. >> It's

014an opportunity for me to come here and learn stuff. >> That's just part of my leadership style. I'm very relational. I'm very interactive. Sometimes you're that nugget that you they need to have in order to keep them motivated about coming to school. >> Short sound. >> The teachers here, they're very nice. >> Our scholars are learning. They're having fun. We're building meaningful relationships. They're able to socialize. It's been a great time. >> It was a good day and I did lots of things. [Music] We are excited to have you here at Harrison Park Academy as we celebrate an incredible resource for our community and our school. >> Catherine's Health Center is a nonprofit community health center and we provide quality, compassionate, and affordable care to all. We believe that quality health care is a human

015right and that access to care improves when we deliver services in trusted spaces like schools. >> Three, two, one. >> We can't wait to see the impact this new health center will have. Here, scholars and community members between the ages of 3 and 21 years will have access to both medical and behavioral health services regardless of the ability to pay. Here at Harrison Park, one of our city's legendary learning institution, you see the power of partnerships, different organizations coming together to make a lasting impact on our community. >> With this clinic, we are going to be removing critical barriers to students learning. I'm so encouraged to know that in this clinic, we are also going to be treating students uh health care needs the same above the neck as we do below the neck. I

016can't stress enough the importance of these on the education of our kids. Not just because it helps keep them in school, but also they are being exposed to a career pathway. They are right here with medical professionals every day, and if they happen to be curious, I'm sure they can just stop in and say hi. Our strategic plan begins with the core value to meet the holistic needs of our scholars. Today's opening is another step toward that goal. [Music] >> Good afternoon. Thank you. How you doing? >> Great. We're ready to get the school year going. >> All right. What can we do to help? Do you have any assignments for us? I got people pencils have to be sharpened. [Music] >> As you're like getting ready and you've got your usual list, are you

017seeing, you know, the concern when it comes to costs? >> I was putting like hand sanitizer on my list today and I was like, 40 bucks for the big box? >> My favorite teacher was my second grade teacher. I just want you to know that I I have the capacity to live up to that. Okay. >> I believe it. I believe it. I believe it. Anything that you're concerned about or on the front of your mind as you think about all your kids coming into class? >> Just ensuring that you know we have all of the things that we need >> cuz when we're here, it's like a second home for the kids, right? So, it requires lots of things to continue to manage from home to here. that all students have everything that they

018need >> that I'm able to meet all of their needs like emotionally, financially, uh physically, everything. There's that unspoken desire for us, too, that we want to make sure they have those things because we don't want anyone to feel left out. >> Are you like nervous for middle school? >> A little bit. >> It's going to be just fine. >> You know what? Even at the age of 53, I can tell you new things sometimes give me butterflies on occasion. You're going to be great. drawers that need to be wiped out and installed back into their desk. >> I think people take for granted the amount of personal resources that teachers put in to make their classroom work for their students. [Music] >> Teachers like you that make the big difference and all these little

019lives. So, >> thank you. We need those reminders. [Music] Happy first day. >> Everything went well. >> Good. Glad to hear it. I am Dr. Roby and I am just here to visit first grade on the first day of school to see all the great learning that you're doing. Hi, Mrs. Quinnby. >> Hi. >> Eighth graders, how y'all doing? >> Good. >> How are you? >> Good. How are you? >> Good. Like that's a smile on the first day. >> They're working on their first day of kindergarten crowns. They're doing a really good job using their whisperer voices. You >> guys are doing such a nice job. >> We are looking at actually having more freshman and more sophomores this year. >> We're learning about our feelings on the first day of school. We have

020some nervous friends, some excited, and I think some that are just in between. >> I add stuff to the classroom and sometimes I take away. >> What's something that you add to the classroom? smartness like because I know how to do like math. >> So you add your brilliance. I love that. And what's an example of something you take away? >> I take away everything I learned. >> Wanted to see some of our young people and how they're enjoying their new space. We are at Dickinson and we are going to try out the new secure entrance. We're very excited about this. [Music] Thank you. That's very kind. Are you excited to be back in school? >> Yeah. >> All right. >> One, two, three. Perfect. >> We just want you to have the very best

021school year. Wishing you all just the very best this year. >> Welcome everyone. We are back in open session. Um, I just want to make note that reports and action items will take place first to move business of the district forward and then we will move into public comment. Um, I'm also going to make a statement I made at the beginning of the meeting, but now we have a lot more people here. So, I'm going to reread that statement. Tonight we reconvene as a board, as colleagues, as neighbors, as educators, as parents, as people united by our community's children. Last week, Monday, we did not let that purpose lead us in our work. Last week, Monday, we let disruption, disorder, verbal outbursts, bullying tactics, yelling, and anger lead us away from the heart of why

022we are all here. I am ashamed that some of the students we serve or witness to the chaos of that gathering. I regret that I did not take the steps needed as president to to shut down disruption sooner. I regret the role my inaction had in leading to further bullying, degrading of our superintendent, staff and board and breakdown of our meeting. What happened on Monday is unacceptable and will not be tolerated at our board meetings. It is time for all of us to go back to the basics. The law, our policies, our board norms, and moral imperatives will help set the stage for a productive meeting and for keeping our kids at the forefront of all we do. I've made sure copies of relative content are available tonight so that all of us can be

023informed of the truth and how we must and have agreed to run our board meetings. Let us all be reminded that a school board meeting is a meeting of the board in public. Public participation is limited to the public comment period. According to the Open Meetings Act, a school board may establish public participation rules that assist in balancing the board's interest in conducting a meeting in an orderly manner with individuals rights under the First Amendment. Last week, I allowed for too many people to shout out or try to engage in conversation outside of public comment. This disrupts our work and drags us off course. The Open Meetings Act also gives us very clear guidelines for what a board may do when disorderly conduct takes place. If during a meeting a citizen engages in disorderly conduct

024or acts in a manner resulting in a breach of the peace, a school board may take steps to control the behavior or even remove the individual from the meeting. The revised school code permits the board president to order the removal of a citizen who after notice from the president persists to behave in a disorderly manner. This provision also empowers the president to order a law enforcement officer or other person to take the disorderly person into custody until the meeting is adjourned if the person refuses to withdraw from the meeting. Further, the Michigan Penal Code states that a person is guilty of a misdemeanor if he or she makes or excites any disturbance or contention in any public meeting where citizens are peacefully and lawfully assembled. While I believe our board truly wants to hear from

025our community, we have not done a great job of setting boundaries as to what steps over the line into disruption. Let this serve as a notification that moving forward, if there are interruptions or disturbances, I will be giving warnings and asking people to be removed. This is well within my right according to MASB and the Open Meetings Act. The Open Meetings Act also allows this to be based on the president's discretion. I will not allow for our superintendent, her staff, or our board to be attacked with outbursts and insults. Everyone in this room has a right to feel physically and emotionally safe. I will also exercise my right to recess whenever necessary because of disruptions. When groups of people are cheering or clapping or shouting or even talking to each other, it's hard for us

026to focus on our meeting. We will simply recess when my asks for quiet or my gavvel pounds are ignored. As you know, we have changed the place of our meeting to accommodate the larger attendance. We will plan to have all regular board meetings moved to Ottawa Hills for the foreseeable future. We will likely be moving the location of our work sessions as well. Other changes will be made as we plan to focus as a board on how to adjust and rethink our spaces, our procedures, and our policies in regard to board meetings. We will not accept a meeting like the one we experienced last week. Over the weekend, Mr. Rodney Brown made a post that really just touched what I had been thinking about all week. And so, he allowed me to use some of

027his words. He said Grand Rapids Board of Education's moral imperative statements and operating norms top two points are every scholar will feel physically and emotionally safe regardless of which school they attend. And we will stay student centered in all of our work. This is our charge. It's not optional. It's the heart of what it means to serve. We must stand together and actively discourage harmful rhetoric. We must commit ourselves to modeling what respectful disagreement looks like and to creating environments where every student, staff person, and our citizenry feels safe, seen, and valued. The time to change the culture is now for our children, for our future. Hate has no dignity. There's no humanity in hate and no place for hatefulness in our school system. We all want what is best for our children. The manner

028in which we work toward that goal matters. All of our words and actions are being listened to and watched by our future generation. Let's not let hostility and noise prevent us from doing the work needed to reach our goals. Thank you. And now we will move forward in the agenda. Um, secretar's report. >> Thank you. So, we've got uh just two things. Uh, one is our finance committee meeting is scheduled for next week, uh, September 22nd at 4:30 p.m. The location still is to be announced. Um, and then our ad hoc facilities meeting is scheduled on October 13th, uh, at 5:30 p.m. and that location is also to be announced. >> That's all I got. >> Thank you. Committee chair reports. So, I have the city board liaison report. Um, we are still working out

029adjustments on the agreement of joint you the joint use agreement. Um, that's still in progress. We're still talking through that. Uh, we are still on track with partnering with the city for stocking and Alexander being looked at and they are now getting JLL on board with that as well so we can have their input. Um we did talk about crosswalks and crossing guards uh and help me out um committee members, but a lot of the discussion was that when recommendations for crossing guards and crosswalks are made to both the city and to GRPS, those recommendations are um passed along to Mobile GR who assesses the need in detail. Um so making the district and the city um well aware of those places is perfectly fine and then we pass it on to mobile GR to

030further assess. And then our community's children gave us a report. Um Shannon Harris is the one that gives that report just about the mayor's youth council kids speak to college through college um and grow 1000. That's about it. Finance Committee. >> Yes. >> Um in finance committee, we brought are bringing forth a few action items that we'll see later on our agenda. Um but the uh committee did approve to move those forward to the full board. At our meeting, we discussed um school district audit process and we received some training about that. Um we it was also information was shared that uh in the last uh five or six years which the information went back for that GRPS has only received a minor ding in our audit process and it was regarding the application for

031free and reduced lunches and that there was a discrepancy between one uh the income put at one part of the application and a different part of the application. And since that time, uh, the district has put in measures to close the gap to make sure that doesn't happen again, but that was our only ding and it was minor in the last five years. And then we just received um some updates on state budgeting, but as you all know, we still haven't gotten that out that information. So there was it was speculative conversation for the most part. And that is what I have for finance. >> ad hoc. Um we had a update with regards to um where JLL is and that they have received all the necessary information that the district has uh the board

032has requested the district to share with them and excuse me and there will be more to come as they get their footing and start making assessments and putting together a plan for the district. Um and then we also talked about um briefly the joint use agreement, but you've already covered that. So our conversation was much the same, waiting to hear back from um those involved and making um to get uh additional updates as to how that conversation is going. And then lastly, we talked about the naming of buildings. And we were pretty pleased with our policy. The one policy change we um discussed uh changing was that we wanted a consensus in um if there was a money being exchanged or donation for the naming of a building that we wanted uh there to be

033a particular time frame for which that will take place and that also that would be laid out in the memorandum of understanding around the exchange of those dollars for the naming of a building for a specific amount of time and then we receive uh general updates around the bond projects and those are moving along well. We're ahead of of schedule or well actually we're mostly on schedule for everything. We got one project that's just a little bit behind that's going to be delayed till about January and then um we are under budget on a few of those. So that will allow us to try to address some of that other delayed maintenance that we have in some of our other buildings. >> Any questions? >> Okay. Thank you. Um before moving on to our action

034items, uh I will just make an announcement that once our action items are complete, so there are three action items. That will be when final public comment cards need to be turned in. Okay. Uh the peace education week resolution. Do I have a motion to approve this resolution? >> So moved. >> Support. >> All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? >> Motion carries. Moving on to the purchasing agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the purchasing agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. And acceptance of the GRPSA wage reopener. >> Oh, no. They fixed it. Please extend >> motion to approve this. >> So moved. >> Do I have support? >> All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed?

035>> Motion carries. >> Okay. >> Moving on to our consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So move. support. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed. Okay. Motion carries. Okay. All public comment cards need to be in at this time. Um we will move into public comment. We do have some priority speakers and those are the people who did not get a chance to speak before our meeting was recessed. So I will name those people first. Um I'm wondering if we could get someone to move the podium back because I can't see the podium from sitting down. Could I get security or someone on staff to move that so that I can see speakers when they come up to the podium? >> They could come up

036to the table. >> Thank you. >> How many of them actually? >> All right. So, as they get that moved, um I'm going to read us into uh comment public comment. There is one public comment section this evening on the agenda which accommodates both agenda and non-aggenda items. Each comment period is limited to a maximum of three minutes unless otherwise directed by the board president. >> We will move to two because we know we have >> plenty. Y >> two minutes. Individuals are kindly requested to fully complete the front of the comment card indicating the topic topic or topics they wish to address. If you're a scholar enrolled in GRPS, please note this next to your name on the card. Completed cards should be submitted in the designated bin. Our board assistant will collect them

037prior to final call. We ask the speakers refrain from making abusive or disrespectful statements about board members, employees, volunteers, or contractors. Should you have a complaint regarding a specific board member, employee, volunteer, contractor, please utilize the appropriate process outlined in board policy 9450. Speakers will be invited to address the board one at a time. Before your beginning your comment, please clearly state your name for the official minutes. Uh I will be monitoring the time that is two minutes again ensuring each speaker adheres to the allotted time. You'll be asked to conclude your comments promptly when your time has expired. Um as we don't have a uh a timer behind us here at Audible Hills, um I will just be keeping time on my phone. Um and uh I'll give you a one minute warning. Um,

038if you wish to, you know, look up as you're making public comment, I'll just raise a raise a card up here, so please keep an eye for that. Again, you have two minutes tonight. Board members do not respond during the public comment. All concerns will be forwarded to the appropriate staff for consideration. We value your input tonight and thank you for sharing with us. >> I would just like to add to that um because of the cheering and such between comments. I know it was hard for people to hear when I was announcing someone's name. To help with that, I'm going to name like five people at a time instead of two. And then if you want to line up in the center aisle, that will help us move the public comment along. Um the

039ones from September 8th are in alphabetical order if that helps you know kind of where you're at. So, first up we have Jolene Andrews, followed by Dan Bieber, Allison Bloom, Kelsey Babbledy, and Margie Kangalozi. >> Jolene Andrews, >> is it up? I can't tell. >> Yes, >> I can barely hear you. Can we get >> Jolene Andrews, Southwest Elementary? We keep on hearing that there's a teacher shortage everywhere, and that's why we have so many vacancies in GRPS. While I do know part of this to be true, there is a teacher shortage. The districts most affected are the ones that have poor working conditions and low salaries. Last weekend, I looked at job openings for every district in the county. I was only looking at certified teacher positions. Here is how many teaching posing positions

040each district had. Byron Center zero. Cedar Springs 0. East Grand Rapids zero. Forest Hills zero. Godfrey Lee zero. Godwin Heights 0. Kelloggsville zero. Kent City 0. Northview zero. Sparta zero. Thornapple Kellogg zero. Wyoming zero. Calonia one part-time. Rockford one part-time. Kak Park one specialed. Granville, one specialed, lol one specialed. Kentwood two specialed, Kenaha Hills 2. GRPS 56. The district reported two weeks ago that they had 36 classroom teacher vacancies. And according to the website, there are at least 20 more vacancies that require teacher certification. I know GRPS's first response will be that we have a bigger district, so we have more positions to fill. Clearly, we are not so much larger than the surrounding districts that we should have more than 25 times the number of teacher vacancies that they have. GRPS also falls back

041on the excuse of uncertainty of funding. All these districts face the same uncertainty and most of them have figured out how to give raises anyway. This is clearly not a difference in the number of positions available or anything else. This is an issue of people choosing to work in other districts because they will receive better pay and better working conditions. GRPS can't afford to not pay its teachers better. >> Dan Bieber. >> Hi there. Is it possible that we use the computer and the projector to uh allow uh speakers to have a time so they can keep track? I'll keep track of myself, but just uh if we can do that, I think that'd be appreciate. >> Trusty Rodriguez is keeping time. >> Okay. But to have it displayed is usually it it's nice. I

042know you guys have it in the other one if it I'll tie myself but uh hi there. Uh good evening members of the board. Tippy. Uh my name is Dan Viper. Uh I reside in the Millbrook neighborhood and I'm the parent of three GRPS students. And with the ar reimagine GRPS plans to close several schools, including uh my local school, Sherwood Park Elementary, uh I'd like to remind you that the grounds there are far more than just property. They're vital. They're a vital p public asset to the neighbors in their area. Sherwood Park serves as my family's only walkable green space. If those ground grounds vanish behind fences or to private equity, my community, including my children, will lose its only uh will lose their only accessible play space. Uh I urge you guys to

043treat these grounds not as a commodity, but as a crucial public resource. Please preserve them for public use. Secondly, I want to address a deep concern uh that I had from last week, and that's of trust. I witnessed Dr. Roby leave the meeting in the midst of someone asking for them to be accountable. I could barely believe what I was seeing. Uh there was no explanation given at the time. Uh and while it might have been a simple phaua, when a leader walks out, of course, trust is broken. And I think the the turnout tonight is not a result of a deep deeply built trust. We need leadership strong enough for tough conversations. Strong enough to communicate that they've fallen short. I want to trust this board. But I urge you, you've got to earn

044that trust through transparency, accountability, and a commitment followed by action to start providing appropriate funds to our teachers. Thank you. Allison Blum. Hi, my name is Allison Blum. I was a student teacher at kindergarten or at Sibly Elementary in a kindergarten classroom last fall, graduating December. I subbed at Sibi throughout the remainder of the year and I'm now a current long-term sub at Congress Elementary, two GRPS schools where I've been lucky enough to learn from amazing teachers and staff members in each building. There's a common theme between both GRPS schools I've been at, passion and dedication and exhaustion and heartbreak. It was only after three months at Sibly Elementary and it became abundantly clear the shortcomings of the current system and how it fails to acknowledge that these teachers are in desperate need of immediate

045support. In learning this, I'm proud to say I started a nonprofit called BRIPE, which stands for building resources and inspiring growth and hardworking teachers. I was inspired to create this by watching many GRPS employees not be able to live comfortably in order to support their students fully, taking money out of their own pockets to provide a comfortable classroom and not being paid nearly enough in return. You should be embarrassed that a 24year-old fresh college graduate has not only identified these issues, but has already taken action towards creating a future where teachers are not only equipped with fully stocked classrooms, but are enabled to make the difference in the lives of GRPS students and move our community forward. Supporting our teachers should not be up for debate and it certainly should not solely rely on the

046good nature of those in and around our community. I pause taking the next steps in my career to do your job. These teachers should never have to come here to prove their worth to you because every student that I've seen walk out of their classroom with a higher intelligence and a desire to be a better person should be proof enough. Give these teachers a raise because they deserve it. Do better because they deserve better. I will continue to put my all into providing support for these wonderful teachers I've had the lucky opportunity of working with until they receive the appreciation that they deserve because that's my choice. These are good people in front of you and extraordinary teachers. Do not let these students lose them. You have the choice. You have the potential to change

047their lives for the better. You don't have the potential to change their lives for the better. You have the power. Don't waste that. Thank you. Now see babble. [Applause] Hi. Um I'm Kelsey Babbledike. I'm a secondy year teacher here at Ottawa Hills. Um, I originally had something I was planning to speak on regarding an incident that happened here last year that I feel was um, really incorrectly reported on behalf of the board, but I'm realizing that I think my time up here might be better spent giving you a little bit of an idea of what some of your first, second, and third teachers are dealing with with the pay that we are currently receiving. Um, so I just wanted to give a little bit of insight into my personal life. I know that you guys

048have heard a lot of stories and I think it would be crazy to think that the people that on on the board haven't heard us. I know that you are hearing us. It's the action part that I think we're struggling with. It's hard to it's hard to trust as um a secondy year teacher here. Um anyway, so I'm I'm really struggling financially now and that's a really hard thing to come up here and admit to other people. Um I went to school for 5 years. I have an exorbitant amount of loans and I often feel like I'm drowning despite living with three other people and sharing a home. It's really hard. It's really hard to share. >> One minute. You have one minute left. Oh, heard misunderstood. Anyway, really hard um to live with other

049people as an adult who's trying to understand my space, but being in a position at school where I have to be the leader of 90 kids all the time. And then I come home to roommates and I come home to my bills. We got bed bugs a couple summers ago and I was so lucky to have a higherp paying job to be able to afford that. I cannot imagine getting bed bugs right now. It was like $2,000 to make sure they were eradicated. I get scared when my car breaks down because I know I'm not going to be able to afford it if something happens. And then I'm at the will of my wonderful community who are here to support me. I just want you to know that it's really hard and I know that

050you guys know that and you're hearing that, but I hear it better. I And I don't I don't say that in like any sort of mean way, but I'm not seeing action. And so it's really hard to feel taken care of by my job. And I I want that. I want to work here. I love my students and I really enjoy it, but it's not practical for me and I'm really suffering because of it and I'm really hopeful that um >> that's time. >> Okay. I'm really hopeful that you guys will be able to find a way to navigate this that shows us your care. Thank you. >> Margie Canalowski. [Applause] Okay. Kelly D'vour, Aaron Edins, Matt Harrison, Caitlyn Homewood, >> Yolanda How, >> Kelly Dbor, >> Aaron Edins, All right. Hello. Um, I'm Aaron

051Edins. Uh, thank you members of the board and Superintendent Roby. Um, my wife is a GRPS teacher and has taught in three district schools since we relocated to Grand Rapids in 2019 um, for my job as faculty at GBSU. Um, the concerns that I've heard so many other teachers express about lack of pay hit close to home for our family. My wife took a $16,000 pay cut when she moved here and has only recently caught up to the salary that she was making when she left her position in Minneapolis public schools. Um, buying a home in Grand Rapids was a huge challenge for us. And I know that affording a home in our city on a teacher's salary is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, for many teachers. I also know that the district leadership can

052do better. Your teachers deserve better. Your teachers deserve more. Their working conditions are our students learning conditions. I want to share a quick story about our daughter, a fourth grade GRPS student. This summer, she played softball in the Ted Raspberry League, and we spent most Tuesday and Thursday nights at city parks. It was a really wonderful experience. She made friends with kids from all over the city and at least five different GRPS schools. I saw a few other softball parents at the meeting last week. Actually, like my like my wife and I, those parents are committed to sending their kids to public schools in our city. But like us, they won't stick around in this district if things don't start to change. Those fourth and fifth graders from my daughter's softball team will graduate in

053seven or eight years. I want to know tonight what you will do to ensure that they not just stay here in this district but thrive here. And I also want to remind you that as community members, we're going to continue to stand up for our teachers and for our students. Thank you. >> That's Thank you, >> Matt Harrison. [Applause] Caitlyn Homewood. >> My name is Matt Harrison. I teach here at Ottawa Hills. This is my 20th year in the teaching profession. And thinking about a number of things I'd like to discuss tonight, I I try to boil it down to this. I fought overseas for my country and my youth. And now I'm fighting in my middle age for GRPS teachers and their students, especially those of us who are grinding here in the southeast

054side. I teach English literature and philosophy at the mighty Ottawa Hills and I've been thinking about this all day and ask sincere reflection. 77% of teachers in the US are women. Women in our country make 18% less than men in the same job. Teachers earn approximately 26% less than all other similarly degreed careers. A simple a simple syllogistic conclusion. So if women are paid about 20% less than men for the same work and the teachers and the teaching profession consists of primarily women, then it makes sense the teachers are paid about 20% less in similarly educated career fields. Perhaps our struggle has as much to do with gender wage discrimination as it does with literal undervaluation of education as a whole. And I recognize the irony that I'm a man. [Applause] >> Caitlyn Homewood, followed

055by Yolanda How. Good evening. My name is Caitlyn Homewood and I'm here today to express my deep concern about the chronic understaffing in the district's special education program. Specifically, across the city, special education's classrooms are being run without fully certified teachers and adequately staffed teams that our children are legally entitled to. Caesar Chavez, two long-term subs in the place of certified special education teachers. There is one resource teacher and the other one is a long-term sub. 44 students affected. Sibi, there's a vacancy in their ASD self-contained program. Instead of nine seas, special education aids, they have three, 32 students affected. At Kent Hills, they have four SEA vacancies. 18 students affected. At Dickinson, there is one long-term sub in the place of a certified ASD specialed teacher. At least 30 students affected. Harrison Park Middle,

056the emotional impairment program is not staffed with a teacher or an SEA. Eight students affected. That's only five buildings I just named. And that is 132 students affected by our lack of staffing. How many more are there that are not being disclosed to parents and guardians? And this is not just a staffing problem. This is a civil rights issue. This is against the law what we are doing. Students in our schools are being denied access to free appropriate public education under IDEIDA. And that's not only acceptable, it's literally illegal. So I am formally requesting that the board take three immediate actions. One, conduct a full staffing audit across all special education classrooms and programs. Two, send a letter to every parent or guardian or of a student reserving receiving special education services informing them whether

057or not their child has a certified specialed teacher and all required service providers according to their IEP. Three, increase educator pay so you can actually attract applicants and quality teachers to work with your most vulnerable student population. Students, parents, and guardians have rights. And this word board has a responsibility to act. Thank you. [Applause] >> Good evening. My name is Joel How. My children attend Southwest Academia Vilingual Elementary and Middle High, a school that's incredibly impressive and that I'm grateful for. Every time there's a millage for GRPS, I vote in favor of it and urge others to do the same. That's my responsibility and our responsibility as a uh community. Um your responsibility is to ensure that the money is used to hire certified teachers for every classroom in our district and to pay our

058incredible teachers the competitive wages they deserve so they'll remain at GRPS. We have done our part and we will continue to do that. But you haven't done your part. You have let our teachers salaries fall to the very bottom of what King County teachers get paid. You have let left left money in the bank that belongs in the pockets of our teachers. You have left vacancies in classrooms and let students with long-term teachers long-term substitutes rather than qualified teachers. This is unacceptable. Our teachers deserve better. Our scholars deserve better. I'm here to call you to do your part to increase our teachers salaries to match the top paying schools in our county because they deserve it. Most of the teachers my children have had have had a master's degree, won't even have a PhD. Um,

059our I don't speak Spanish and neither does my husband, my kids do because of the diligent, patient, tireless work of their teachers who have opened up a whole new world of relationships to them by giving them a second language. This is communitybuilding, worldview shaping, soul work that our teachers are doing every single day. And they are so passionate about their work, so loyal to their students that they have remained in these roles for years despite being paid less than their peers, despite the high cost of the education that they owe debts to. But our loyalty is not with our teachers. I know I didn't know our district was failing them so badly. I didn't know they could make $10,000 more teaching at nearby schools. It's hard for me to look them in the eye knowing

060all that they sacrifice and all that they do for our kids. >> That's fine. Thank you. >> Okay. Vanessa Yimenez, [Applause] Jax Johnson, Marta Johnson, Meg Johnson, Mary Clawson, Jackie Landon. First up, Vanessa Yemenis. not here. >> Jax Johnson, if you could please make your way to the middle if you heard your name. That way once we're all in the middle, it'll speed things up a little. >> I wrote this. Jax Johnson, Marta Johnson, Meg Johnson. Hello, my name is Meg Johnson. I'm currently serving at Westwood Middle School. We call our children scholars and yet the message that we send them when we show them that pursuing academics means barely being able to make a living. You cannot claim to put students first when you consistently put educators last. I want to begin by saying

061that what I will say will not be new information, but I believe an important reminder. I am a secondyear teacher. I've seen rhetoric suggesting that teachers are paid as if they are simply babysitters. And when you do the math, that statement isn't exactly an exaggeration. It's reality. My salary as a young teacher in GRPS is $44,916 a year. That amount will not increase for several years, unlike in surrounding districts across West Michigan. If we as a district meet the required 180 uh instructional days, my salary breaks down to just $31.19 an hour. When you divide that across a capped classroom of 30 students, it comes out to $14 per student per hour. $1 for everything I do to educate, nurture, and prepare our next generation. I do want to acknowledge that teachers all over the

062United States face the same issue. But I did some snooping online and found that families in GR pay between 15 and $20 an hour per child for babysitting services. My salary doesn't reflect the countless hours I work beyond my contract school day hours. With just one hour of daily prep time, I spend more than 40 hours a week on meetings, grading, planning, and family communication, unpaid, but ne but necessary to succeed as a teacher. As a young educator at the bottom of the pay scale, I feel forced to work at this level just to earn an effective rating while also taking on supplemental jobs to make ends meet. A majority of my friends in the service industry without degrees earn about the same annual salary as I do. The only difference, I have a degree.

063I carry the responsibility of shaping lives and I am forced to set strict boundaries around taking work home with me just to protect my time and health. My primary point in focusing on this information is that the least we could do to be done is to raise compensation to that of the level of other districts nearby for equity's sake. We as teachers >> Thank you. >> Mary Classen. [Applause] Good evening. My name is Mary Clawson and I teach choir at Burton Middle School. I'm going to keep this towards the scope of music tonight even though there's so many things to talk about. This year, our internal music festivals for band, orchestra, and choir are not being funded. These festivals gave music students crucial feedback before MSBA and MSVMA events and directly improved their musicianship and

064success. Losing them lowers the quality of opportunities for all of our music students. In addition, MSVMA and MSBOA membership fees were shifted to the individual building budgets after the school year had begun. Our Fine Arts administrators and our principles are doing their best to adapt, but the reality is that the problem is coming from the top. when administrators receive double-digit raises while programs, field trips, and basic transportation for those and for our most underrepresented communities are cut. It reinforces the systemic inequities and takes opportunities away from the students who need the most. Investing in our music is not an extra. It's investing in social and emotional learning. Music builds confidence, teamwork, resilience, and belonging, especially for our students who may not find those supports anywhere else. Our students deserve more opportunities, not fewer. I urge

065you to prioritize restoring funding for music and fine arts so that every student in every building can thrive. Thank you Jackie Landon, Lisa Lee, Lucas Leett, Shandra Madrathi Maferie, sorry, Jen McGowski, starting with Jackie Landon. >> Hello, I'm Jackie Landon. Uh GRPS has truly been the best experience for our family. The dedication, creativity, and the heart that the teachers bring to their work have made a lasting impact on our children. So many educators have gone above and beyond to inspire, support, and nurture our kids. And there's many teachers in here that do that. But one specific one I want to call out is Mrs. Kay. She not only raised the funds but also led the creation of the beautiful butterfly garden at Sea of Rust, giving kindergarteners a hands-on connection to nature. Through this project,

066she helped instill a sense of ownership, pride, and wonder in the natural world, something that continues to stay with our children to this day. Her passion and commitment have made a meaningful and lasting difference of our lives. But with all that incredible work teachers like Mrs. K are doing. There's a growing fear among families like ours that we'll lose these exceptional educators because they aren't being compensated in a way that reflects their impact. GRPS risk losing the very people who make GRPS schools like CART so special simply because they're not getting the support and pay they truly deserve. Spending millions on virtual teachers and relying too heavily on long-term substitutes isn't the answer. The solution is right in front of us. Investing in the dedicated, experienced, and passionate educators already in our schools and creating

067the kind of compensation and support systems that will also attract new, qualified teachers to the district. That's how we build strong, sustainable schools that truly serve our children. I urge you to reconsider the current offer and do better for our teachers. The future of our students and the strength of our public school system depends on it. Thank you. [Music] [Applause] Good evening. Um, my name is Lisa Lee. I teach at Buchanan Elementary, um, early childhood special education. Um, I want to talk about some of the feelings that we in my classroom have gone over and people in my building are feeling. They all happen to start with the letter A. The first A we're going to talk about is anxiety which is a huge problem and which is a huge overwhelming emotion that we have

068these people in this room. Anxiety of not knowing when we have to work, when we will be paid. Um anxiety that HR can change how much, when and how will we be paid without our consent. anxiety over a new evaluation system that requires three observations on one to threeyear new teachers creating a micromanaged time when they have no planning time and no time to do that. The second is anger. anger, righteous anger over the fact that our kids in special education are getting a revolving door of substitute, unqualified teachers and underststaffed support systems that make it unsafe for them. In this anger, I find that my parents are leaving the district because they know that their children cannot stay in GRPS and re receive a fair, appropriate public education in their least restrictive environments in

069compliance with their IEPs. The last one is apathy. the apathy that so many people before me have given up on this district because you have given up on us funding us, supporting us. You said it is a right to be safe. Our scholars have a right to be safe. We have a right to be safe. And one of those was emotional safety. A >> that's time. >> Thank you. Tonight [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I join others wearing red, but it's a Spider-Man shirt highlighting the mantra that with great power comes great responsibility. You as a board are failing both. You don't seem to understand or flex your power in any way that counts and you repeatedly fail to rise to occasions of your great responsibility. You have a responsibility to dismantle the corrupt practices and toxic

070systems ingrained in GRPS. And yet you've had almost all of 2025 to do it and you've dragged your feet. What's holding you back? The same West Michigan nice I just ripped off of my mouth. You had the responsibility to produce an academic calendar for our educators and families, but embarrassingly there hasn't been one. You have the responsibility to empower the voices of the people who elected you. And yet, even those of you who made doing that a campaign promise have now presided over policy updates that take away our rights to address you. You have a responsibility to stop tolerating endless failures in transportation, but you sit by. You have a responsibility to drop the hammer on all the nepotism, yet it prevails. You have a responsibility not to reward mediocre executives with giant raises on

071top of their already outside salaries. and instead you've presided over making public education a home for wage disparity. You have a responsibility to pay our teachers what they deserve to be paid and make all negotiations transparent and open to the public as well as your full board. But in this story, you failed to be the heroes. This failing school system, these burnt out and underpaid teachers, and all the kids you like to hide behind when you're squashing dissent needed a hero. and you fail them. That tingle that you might feel, that's your spidey sense and it's telling you that I'm right and you fell short. Will you turn it around? Mr. Rodriguez, this is a very unstable podium and I advised several minutes ago that it needed to be propped up. I'm sure there's an

072underpaid physics teacher in here that can explain this to you, but this probably should be fixed if you value the equipment and the order and decorum that is supposed to deliver. >> Thank you, [Applause] >> Shandra Madbury. >> Jen Mcolski here. >> Is Shandra here? No, she's going to get it here tonight. >> Okay, next up is Zach Marshall, then Teresa McFersonson, Beth Mayor Craft. Um, there's a Jennifer who did not pro provide a last name. Cecil and Will Overland. Go ahead, Zach. Hi, I'm Zach Marshall. I'm a proud public school parent, daughter of a seventh grader. She's been attending GRPS for the last four years since we moved to town. I value public schools because they serve everybody. But I've been disappointed. Every school my daughter's been at so far, and there's been three,

073has had long-term subs. As a parent, I thought must be the teacher shortage. But then I heard about this meeting and I thought I'd look up what teachers get paid. I was expecting the wages to be uncompetitive. I didn't expect them to not even be livable. GRPS is not paying teachers enough to live in Grand Rapids. They would literally have to leave the city as you're hearing attested to tonight. You're probably aware housing values have doubled in the last 5 years. As somebody who moved to Grand Rapids in 2021, this is a reality. And so I want to appeal to you here, the board. I have a feeling you'll say a couple things. Um, if we say you've got the money, you just need to spend it. You might say, "Hey, we're not on the

074negotiating team. We just approve." Okay. Second, not all money can just be used for anything. Sure. Third, Michigan is kind of weird with funding schools. I get that. I can understand all that. I'm also going to wager that you did not join the board and run for election because you really wanted to uphold the status quo. I have a feeling you wanted to make some kind of positive difference, whatever you thought it was. So, I hope you can hear me. There's no more positive difference you can make than by making teacher pay competitive. Without it, you'll continue to bleed teachers and bleed students. You'll have to keep consolidating schools as the enrollment drops. I'm going to think about you on count day this year. It's time to make a difference. Which means you as the

075board are going to need to be creative. I'm going to ask that you call up the negotiating team and say this is a priority. >> Don't approve a contract that's not a 10% raise. >> I have more to say, but I ran out of time. Thank you. >> Thank you. [Applause] [Music] Good evening, Dr. Roby and GRPS board of ed. My name is Teresa McFersonen. I'm in my fifth year at North Park as a teacher. I started as a parapro in 2018, but first as a school of choice parent to GRPS at North Park in 2014 with our three children. We left Rockford Public Schools to come to Grand Rapids. After last Monday, I did a lot of reflection. I read and listened to some of Dr. Roy's early interviews. She's a strong leader and

076has worked very hard to get where she is today. I want that opportunity for my colleagues and ultimately for the children in our schools, our future. However, unless real serious change is made immediately to GRPS's pay structure across the board in all types of positions, we will continue to lose great employees, not just teachers, and will continue to fail in recruitment and retention. Here's a personal example for you. A few years ago, a parapro in our building had her lights and heat turned off at Christmas time because she couldn't afford the bill. She left GRPS to find a job that could support her 2-year-old. She was a young mom working hard to get her life on track. I wish this parapro parapro's journey upward could have been with GRPS. According to an interview in 2020,

077Dr. Nairobi lives by an important guiding principle that life's circumstances happen. And how do we prepare our young people for life's circumstances? This is very true. We all have our battles to fight, our stories to tell, and learning to persevere and overcome our life skills that all GRPS grads need. Well, this young mom I spoke of, she was a GRPS alumni. I guess we did our job. We prepared her to persevere at GRPS. She was in loop. She moved her way up. She was a parapro. She loved all the children. She advocated for change. And she did what's best for her future, which was to ultimately leave GRPS for better. >> It's time. >> Thank you. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] >> Magic. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Beth and I am a GRPS

078parent and resident. My husband Dave Craft was the very first high school environmental science teacher at CA Frost Middle High School where he taught for seven years. When he started, his classroom cabinets were totally bare. He literally built that program from the ground up. He restored the school grounds with his students, planted native plants, and led camping and backpacking trips in the UP. He loved Frost, his colleagues, his principal, and especially his students. He had no plans to leave, but this year he did, not because he wanted to leave, but because Northview Public Schools offered him a 19% pay increase. That was the difference between staying in GRPS at a school he loved or doing the responsible thing for our family. Meanwhile, here in GRPS, teachers are the lowest paid in the county. Many classrooms

079do not have certified teachers and Franklin campus administrators are taking doubledigit raises. That is backwards and that is unacceptable. Our son is a seventh grader at city and before that he attended North Park Monasuri. His teachers have been incredible, the reason he's thrived in school. But across GRPS, amazing teachers like my husband are being forced to make the same choice, leaving for districts that pay them what they deserve. I don't want to lose these great teachers, but I wouldn't blame them for going. And when you lose these great teachers, you will lose families. It's already happening. Your mission talks about excellence and attracting top talent. But you cannot achieve that if you refuse to invest in the people who make it possible. Please pay our teachers what they deserve. >> That's time. >> Thank you.

080>> Is Jennifer here? Hello, my name is Jennifer Cecil and I am coming to talk to you today as one of those awesome new teachers that you want. So, I teach um a one-two split at Palmer. This is my third year at G GRPS. I had a whole different career before this where I ran a children's theater company. Um, I'm everything you're trying to attract to your district. I'm energetic. I'm hardworking. I work my butt off. I love learning and I'm learning like crazy. I'm becoming better every day. You can just ask my mentor. Um, I'm diving headirst into our new curriculum with you and bridges. And I came to GRPS because I want to work for GRPS. I want to work with GRPS kids. And I'm so passionate at public about public education, but

081then I look at my paycheck and I talk to my friends from other districts who say, "You should come over to us. You're going to you're going to this is your would be your starting salary." And then I talk to my uh to my colleague who just left and is now being paid $17,000 more at a different district. You have no idea how many people are the same as me and literally this close to leaving. If you knew, you would be shaking in your boots. When admin do walkthroughs of our buildings, they have no concept of what's going on. No concept of how many kids are falling through the cracks in heartbreaking ways. And not cuz we're not doing our jobs. Because you're not doing your job. Your job is to listen and then act.

082How do we tell our kids that actions speak louder than words? How do we teach them that when their own district can't even act to give them what they deserve, which is fairly paid teachers? So, please don't send us any more emails about how valued we are and oh, it's such a great new school year. Like, thank you so much because we we we're not listening. We're deleting them because because we know you're not caring. And I'm ashamed that my children, you talk about shame. I'm ashamed that my children >> go to a district like this. >> Thank you, >> Willin. [Applause] [Music] Hi. Uh my name is Will Overland. I use he him. Uh I teach at Union High School. I teach US history to our cohort of multilingual language learners. This is my

083second year in GRPS, but this is my fifth year teaching. I am here because I am tired. I am very tired and disappointed. I am tired of being overworked and underpaid. I'm tired of not being able to take pride in my job and my position and my work here because my salary is slowly putting me further into debt. I go above and beyond every day for my students. I put in as much time and energy as humanly possible, sometimes more so, to support and grow my students. I invite each and every single one of you to come to my classroom and come check it out. 232 over at Union High School. We do a lot of really good things. Uh, and I want you to ask yourself, are you not tired? Are you not tired

084of undervaluing your teachers? Are you not tired of providing mediocre educations to these scholars that you supposedly care so much about? Are you not tired of bleeding staff and bleeding students to these other districts around us? And are you not tired of being the laughingtock of Kent County? I invite you to come to my classroom. I invite you to come to Union and see the things that we do. And I ask you to pay me what I deserve. Pay us what we deserve and then some more for all of this extra crap that you put us through. [Applause] Okay. Tiffany Pierce, Tara Robbins, Tim Russ, Amy Shickle, and Stephanie Shortell. Hello, I'm Tiffany Pierce. Just get my notes out. Okay, so um well 20 years ago I was a GRPS graduate. Um and even back

085then like that's when the changes really started with merging schools together and it was a big issue. We had way too many um students to teacher ratio. We couldn't even um I went to Ottawa actually for the first year and we had to be four three or four students to a book because there wasn't enough books for us to take books home. Um I'm glad that you guys have gotten better as far as that goes and we've gone paperless so the kids can access them online. However, there's a lot of other issues that are happening with the schools as well. Um like for instance um like on the GRPS careers page it shows that you guys have 180 vacancies. Um and then other districts may have maybe three to four vacancies. Um there's also an

086issue with all the long-term substitutes um and them maybe not being all the way um well verssed in what they're teaching. My daughter was a graduate of City High School and thank goodness for programs like the um No Boundaries No Barriers with the Urban League and Endless Opportunities because without those types of programs, my daughter may not have passed because some of her teachers didn't even know how to help her with her work. So, um that's another issue. And then also, um school lunches are kind of comparable to prison lunches. That's not nourishing their brains. you give out sack supplers that have moldy food inside. That's not helping them either. Um like for instance, uh I feel like security guards, coaches, um school secretaries and deans, bus aids, crossing guards should all be included in

087your pay and they should be paid properly. Um also like when we think about even the sports, um for instance, we have really good sports teams. However, like Ottawa's track is full of glass and it's concrete and it's really not conducive for the students to practice there. Um, and so I think you guys should invest money in that as well because >> running on concrete cause shin splints. >> All right. Thank you. >> My name is Tim Russ. I work for the Michigan Education Association. Uh spent the last probably 12 years in and out of working with educators here at GRPS. Uh I don't want to spend a lot of time on things that happened last last week, but that was a problem. But I want to tell you why you have a shortage. It's

088very simple. Why you can't hire enough teachers and why you expect children to learn without qualified teachers. First of all, if you were a teacher with the master's degree plus 30 and you worked in this school district for a 30-year career based on today's financial conditions in comparison to other districts, you would lose $213,000 over your career by staying in GRPS. That's the equivalent of about 72% of the cost of a median house. So you're asking dis you're asking teachers who stay in this district to give up a house, a whole freaking house. That's what you're expecting them to do. You have to stop. You have to get it together, make radical changes to the district, and put instruction first. Until you have a qualified teacher in every classroom, you are not doing your job.

089Period. Everything else doesn't matter until every child has a qualified teacher. Period. If you spend 48% 48 cents on a dollar on instruction compared to all the other districts spending over 58 cents on the dollar on instruction, it's obvious why you have problems. Because you don't prioritize the bond between teacher and student. The only thing that matters and the only thing the state pays for is the teacher and the student being bonded together. So make that the priority and fix it. >> Is Tara Robbins here? Okay. Amy Shickle, Stephanie Shortell. >> Good evening. I'm Dr. Stephanie Chartell. Thank you for your work. I'm a parent of two adult alums of GRPS who had amazing teachers here. I also volunteer quite a lot in GRPS and I donate money through my small family foundation. My message

090is that teacher recruitment and retention in GRPRs must be your highest priority. But I also have constructive criticism. You are so fortunate to have a community that is this invested receive this as a blessing without the little speeches of how bad we are. Okay. Thanks. Um as a regular community member, I feel that this board and superintendent can do much better ensuring respect to the teachers and community. My disagreement is not an attack. I disagree that the board acted appropriately last week and I'm pretty mildmannered. I was very disappointed that the board superintendent chose to research the open meetings act by reading screens during community comments. Um, gaining trust by not doing this is lowhanging fruit and you can do it. Thank you for doing this this week. Um, demonstrating respect is extremely important and

091it's your job. As a 25-y year resident, I am struck that for whatever reason, the breakdown of trust that I'm seeing has happened on your watch. Your watch. And I expect that you will take responsibility for it. You must do better. Thank you very much. Pamela Seals, Andrew Andrew, John William Shawan, Carrie Shival, Shivy, Dan Slager, Is Pamela Seals here? Andrew John William Carrie Shiv Shiv >> Carrie Shively standing here. Is that loud? >> Go ahead, Carrie. >> All right. closer. Don't start my time yet. Okay. Carrie Shively. I'm a teacher at Palmer Elementary. I've been a teacher for Grand Rapids public schools for 27 years. I'm beyond proud of the work that I have done and the people that I have worked with. With that being said, there have been many times throughout my

092career when I have contemplated if I was able to continue teaching. But when I sit down to think about what else I would do, I can't imagine doing anything else. Unfortunately, the reasons that make me think about leaving education are things that are out of my control. While the majority of my evaluations since starting the Danielson rubric have been rated as highly effective, our brutal evaluation system has often left me feeling inadequate while also taking an extensive amount of time from both me and my administrator to complete. also policies or requests my made by upper administration that do not support me in the classroom but still take away time that I would use to plan and invest in my daily teaching. I've been very fortunate to be in a building that has an amazing principal

093and amazing staff that support each other and make each other better. This unfortunately is very unique within GRPS because of the constant changing of programs and turnover of both teaching staff and building level administration. It takes time to develop programs and relationships with fellow teachers with the communities we are part of and of course our students and families. Yet year after year changes are made without having a say without us having a say in feeling like we have no control over the career that impacts so much of our lives. I currently work with a first year teacher and he is doing an amazing job though he's it is an extremely difficult job and the district makes many things even more difficult. I'm confused why we think he should stay in this district after this year

094it would be if it would be financially better for him to go elsewhere. He wants to stay but we are asking him to choose less money, work more days and have little consistency or control over his career. I have no ability to make these changes being a teacher. The only thing we have left to do is request the school board step in. >> That's time. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. I'm Dan Slaughter and I just want to say I know a lot of you because you've been in my classroom. Am I right? Shake your head. Yes. Those of you that have been in my room that I should be getting most of your heads, but no. Now, educators, are the kids the fun part of the job? >> Oh, I can't hear you. Yes,

095they are the fun part of the job. They're why we do what we do. Yes, I'm not wearing red. I'm wearing something from another place that I teach at where we have a calendar for the next Count with Mr. Dan. 1 2 3 4 years. Four years up. We have a calendar. We need a calendar. Families in Grand Rapids public schools deserve a calendar. Having a shared and mutually agreed upon calendar is essential for staying organized and connected and not having miscommunication. We know this with everyone's schedules in one place we are able to do what we need to do and that is teach, educate, inspire. That's why we do what we do. Our GRPS families are incredible. But you're not treating them well by not having a calendar. How can they schedule doctor's appointments

096for their elderly father that they're taking care of? How can they schedule appointments with an immigration attorney? >> That's >> they can't. Thank you. >> Lucas Southwell, Madison Steber Rachel Thor th Katie to Toralen Reagan. My name is Lucas Southwell. I am a first year teacher at Grand Rapids University Preparatory Academy. I'm the new English uh 10th grade English and AP seminar teacher. Prior to that, I served as a both short-term and long-term sub in the G in GRPS for the last three years. Um I am not just here on behalf of myself but also my colleagues who could not make it here tonight. Especially those colleagues who were here last week to voice them to give them to voice their concerns but could not make it as a result of us needing to reschedule

097this meeting as a result of the board failing to accommodate the public. Um beyond that I would also like to touch on what my colleagues have already touched on uh and that is the ramifications of failing to properly pay our teachers. I love this district. It has been my dream over the last three years to be a fully certified teacher in it. I love our students. I love my colleagues. Um but we are bleeding teachers and we ble are bleeding students. Uh the man whose job I took left this district for $12,000 raise. Um we lost uh over the summer three uh highly qualified, highly skilled AP teachers at our school. Those are teachers whose training uh you paid for and now they uh some other district is reaping the benefit because you failed to

098properly invest in them in the long term. Uh I saw firsthand as a long-term sub the uh debacle that was the elevate K through 12 nonsense where you decided to pay not for one qualified teacher but rather two unqualified teachers as if that would somehow make up the difference as if that was a good long-term financial investment. Please understand when you do not pay teachers that hurts you in the long run financially. That is maybe it helps your budget in the short term but it will only result in higher costs and us bleeding students in the long term. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Madison Steber and I am a K2 elementary autism teacher at Sibly. I want to start by saying I do not envy the position that any of you are in

099currently or were in on Monday. I think about after all of these testimonies, it sounds like a broken record when it's constantly talked about our inefficient pay in the disproportionate allocation of funds and just the general mistreatment of teachers. It gets like a broken record, but we will not stop until our students are served properly and teachers are taken care of despite GRPS's poor decision-making. Allow me to share a story. Recently, I was at a family event where I heard my mother doing and praising my career and how proud she was of me to be a teacher, but how she genuinely worried about how teachers are treated at GRPS. This caused me to do an inventory of my current bills against what I make as a third-year special education teacher with a master's degree. I

100could not teach at GRPS if it weren't for my family. I could not teach here if it were not for my parents. Both of my parents are retired and should be fully enjoying the funds of their hard work that they have worked for their entire lives. But instead, they are personally allowing me to work at GRPS by covering things that I cannot cover such as my car payment, my insurance, my phone, and among other things. Let me be clear again. The reason I am able to work at GRPS is because of my family at home. The reason I stay is for my sibly Familia. Our ASD team is trauma bonded through no lunch breaks, no planning periods, the ongoing struggles of criminally law pay, low pay, inequitable resources. But most importantly, we are bonded through

101the love for our students and for our craft. I am now currently in a place where I want to be here. I want to work with my Thank you. Hello, my name is Rachel Ton and I'm a special education resource teacher. I choose to speak today and echo what my former mentor teacher Kate Homewood said earlier. We currently have four self-contained ASD classrooms and an ECSE classroom. You just heard from one of our ASD classroom teachers. These classrooms account for nine special education assistants. We currently have three employed. Three. How unsafe is it that our most vulnerable students have the least amount of support in our building? myself, our other resource teacher, and any other support staff within our building receive multiple messages a day asking to help support these classrooms if we have the

102time, which we usually don't. Thankfully, we have fully staffed related service providers, which include social workers, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists. Although all of them are at the top end of their case load limit if they aren't over the limit already. However, between us as the resource teachers, behavior specialists, youth advocates, mental health clinicians, we approximate we have approximately 115 students of our own to support outside of our ASD programming. That's 37% of our school receiving tier 2 behavior interventions and supports or the legal tier 3 special education resource programming students are entitled to. When we choose to support help support our ASC programs over our own kids, 37% of the students at our schools suffer. While I'd like to argue that our special education team and our school is one of the

103best in the district, we cannot operate efficiently and to the best of our ability when we have our special education programming this understaffed. Not only do our most vulnerable students suffer, but our whole school suffers. If you aren't going to hire special educational aids at a competitive wage to work in our buildings, then like you visited Dan Slaggner's classroom, maybe you or one of the other 300 non-instructional people who work for the district should come and help out in our ASD classrooms to see why this competitive wage is imperative. >> That's time. Thank you. We are stretched so thin that soon we will break if we haven't already. >> Time's up. >> Thank you. >> Hello, my name is Katie Tolson Regan and I'm a science teacher at Grand Rapids Public Museum High School. I

104moved to Grand Rapids in January from across the state. I specifically wanted to teach at uh Museum High and I'm so grateful that I'm here. I love this school. The scholars, the staff, the administration are truly incredible. I want to be at the school for the long run. However, in order to work for this district, I took a $25,000 pay cut. I make less now as an eighthear teacher with a master's degree than I did as a firstear teacher in a different district. I teach more preps. I have more students. And I work more days than before. It's hard to justify staying here when every other district in the area compensates their teachers more fairly. In addition to being a teacher in the district, I'm also a parent. Soon, my family will be looking for

105schools for my little one. I want to say without hesitation that I will send him to GRPS, but I can't do that right now. Teacher turnover in GRPS is the first thing that other parents mention to me when they tell me about their experience with the district. I do not know of a single family in my neighborhood who has continued with GRPS after a few years and they all specifically mention stories of their child having two or three teachers or subs over the course of a year. Then this is at both neighborhood and theme schools. This is a universal problem. I won't accept that for my son and no family should accept that. Teachers are the foundation of a good education and the face of the district for families. If good teachers leave, families leave

106or they won't even come here in the first place. And teachers here are leaving because they are not being treated or compensated fairly. Again, I want to remain committed to this district as a teacher and I want to be in this district as a parent. I want to stay here. I want to send my son here and I want this district to be a place that every single scholar in GRPS and the surrounding area feels welcome in. And teacher retention is the absolute key foundational part of that. You, the board, can change that by agreeing to increasing teacher salaries and adjusting our calendar so that it is in line with other districts in the area. Thank you. Christina Vandermir, Erica Van Djk, Betsy Vanenberg, Nick Voit, Christy Weman. Uh before I get into the meat

107of my public comment, I really have to address uh the president's opening statement real quick. So, you said in your opening statement that you regret that students witnessed disorder in the last board meeting. Uh I didn't witness it because I was in the hallway because you didn't have room for everybody, but I'll take your word. Um but what about the disorder and disruption our students are experiencing in classrooms without teachers? Do you remember uh the general vibe of a classroom with a substitute teacher? because it's not exactly an environment full of order and decorum. Uh, just some food for thought. So, I know everyone is worried about the budget, about state funding cuts, and I'm just here as a community member and fellow Kent County educator. I'm not on the negotiating team, so I won't

108rehash all the math you've been presented with over the long months of negotiations. The plans and suggestions that they've made about how you can better prioritize your budget, about selling off school buildings, about moving the math around. I won't rehash that what your teachers are asking for doesn't even uh bring them up. It's not exorbitant, right? I mean, it barely brings them up to the low end of the district average. So, understand that there's already a compromise here. Um, I want to choose to believe that you want to find a solution. I choose to believe that this is not an us versus them situation. I choose to believe that you are maybe operating out of fear that the books won't balance and you don't want to be the board where the books went into the

109red. But none of your teachers want to be operating without being able to pay their bills. They're all figuring out how to make it work with a much tighter budget constraint than what Dr. Roby is working with. And they're still paying for supplies for their own classrooms and food and snacks for their kids, their students, not their own children, by the way. Um, so I want you to urge I want to urge you to act with courage and I want you to look behind me. The community came out last week in more numbers than you could handle and accommodate. We will come out again. We came out again this week. We will continue to come out week after week until and after your teachers have a fair contract. My responsibility to our community does not

110end there. Please act with courage. I have like two more paragraphs, but that's fine. Um, >> we're going to use support. Use that support. Hi, Dr. Roie and board members. My name is Erikica Van Djk and I serve on the education justice team at Urban Core Collective. I'm here in solidarity with the educators who continue to advocate for improved pay and I support calls for reimagining our budget to ensure that educators are able to focus their attention on their students. We know that teacher working conditions are student learning conditions. I'm also here to share again about the invest in my kids ballot initiative by adding a 5% tax sarge to annual income above $500,000 for individuals or a million dollars for couples. This initiative will raise more than a billion dollars annually for schools across

111Michigan, including here in Grand Rapids. This tax sir charge will impact less than 2% of the population in Michigan. These funds are to be allocated to local classrooms, supporting critical things like career and technical education, reducing class sizes, and recruiting and retaining teachers. Based on what we keep hearing from our educators, I suspect that having additional funds to increase teacher pay here in the district would be a way to retain these critical members of the GRPS community. I invite those of you who haven't met with us yet to do so as soon as possible so we can share more about Invest in my kids. I'm also here to encourage you to consider passing a resolution in support of this initiative. We continue to hear that the district is pressed for funds and this initiative is

112a direct response to those concerns. I recognize that it can feel demoralizing to constantly hear frustration from folks you're here to serve. This is a solutions-based response that I hope you can support. And finally, if you haven't already, I invite you, all of you as well here in the room to stop by my seat at the end of this meeting and sign the invest in my kids petition. District and board member support is critical and time is of the essence. We have last week it was 157 more days to collect some 700,000 signatures across the state to get this issue on the ballot in November 2026. Anyone registered to vote in the state of Michigan can sign and by doing so you're helping to work towards the beginning of supports for both our educators and

113our students. Thank you. >> Thank you. Is Betsy Van Clampenberg here? >> Good evening. Uh, my name is Betsy Van Clampenberg. I'm a parent of two students in the district and I want the administration and the board to know and understand that GRPS parents support their teachers. Not long ago, I voted in support of the millillage to reimagine our facilities throughout the district. Um, but can we reimagine our district to be the premier most attractive district in West Michigan for teachers, a desirable destination for top talent? Certainly, there are savings that came along with that millillage that we passed. In order to be high achieving, schools need a consistent, stable, efficient, and effective team of teachers, a strong community. High turnover is detrimental to su student success. We call our students scholars, but it has

114been well publicized and talked about here tonight that we pay their educators thousands less than teachers make in surrounding districts. What does that say about us? What does that say about our kids? What does that say about our priorities? Please consider AAM's razor. Let's look at the simplest solution. What is the most obvious solution here? It is right in front of us. Everybody here is asking. Please pay our teachers. Do not rob our kids. Please pay our teachers a fair wage and give them a fair contract now. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Nick Voy. I am a secondyear teacher with G grPS. This is my eighth year in education. I teach K through2 music and orchestra at GR Ford and also Ottawa Hills High School. Last year when I was new to the

115district, I was appalled when I learned that a long-term sub was teaching our eighth graders because the position was not filled. I distinctly remember my immediate thought being there's no way that this is acceptable right and I wondered why parents of those students weren't contacting the school or the district about it now being in the district for another year I know it's not only an accepted but planned practice to fill our numerous vacancies with long-term substitutes and then call that adequate education. You say, "Well, all of our subs are certified." In no way does a certified sub equal a quality teacher. [Applause] This amount of vacancies in a district isn't normal and it signifies an institutional problem which the board and district leadership are fully responsible for. For context, I looked at a few similar

116school districts in size and population within the state. I'll be quick. Lancing public 30 certified instructional vacancies, 138 total vacancies. Also the only district in Michigan that spends less on instructional resources than we do. Uh Camel Zoo Public 11 certified, 38 total. Moskegan public 10 certified, 21 total. Kentwood public three certified, 24 vacancies. And just for fun, Detroit public 53,000 students, 108 buildings only, 29 certified positions and 74 total vacancies. In comparison, as of this afternoon, Grand Rapids HR website, we have 50 open instructional positions, 162 total vacancies. Uh, by not putting structures in place to attract, but more importantly, retain educators, every single one of you sitting there directly causes harm to our students and our families. every single one of you that is sitting there. I acknowledge it's uncomfortable to have so many

117people coming at you from all sides, but how uncomfortable must it be for our students and our families to not have consistency with their education? >> That's time. Thank you. >> Uh my name is Christy Weman. I teach kindergarten at Southwest Elementary Academia Belingu. I've been teaching with Grand Rapids for 29 years. When our last contract was finalized in 2022, there was a very important piece left unresolved. That's elementary planning time. GRE agreed that we would work with GRPS and we'd continue to bargain this crucial issue. And so I joined that committee to address that. and we gathered data from other elementary schools in our district as well as other schools across the county. In 2023, we put together a proposal and we presented it. But three years later, here we are and there's been

118no progress, no answers, no extra planning time, no extra specials, no extended classes for our students. And despite the promise that this was going to happen and be resolved during that contract time in 2022. So across Kent County, the average teacher gets 250 minutes of planning time per week. This time supports the teacher, gives them adequate time to plan quality lessons, but it also gives those students access to classes like STEM or ELAB, language classes, extra art time, music or PE time. But our teachers and our students only get 123 minutes a week for art, music, and PE. Nothing special. That's a difference of 127 minutes over two hours weekly. The district thinks giving us financial compensation for lack of planning time is adequate, but it's not. They're only offering maybe $200 more in the

119next contract. And they're also offering a measly 27 minutes of weekly planning time additional for the next contract. But that would still be a 100 minutes short of what the colleagues in other districts have. Honestly, I need more time in my classroom to plan. We've been expected to teach a new math and a reading curriculum and no additional time to plan them. I'm asking you, please give us more time in our new contract. Both our teachers and our students deserve better. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Mariah Welch. Aaron Whistner. There she is. My name is Mariah Welch, a former CA Frost teacher and sibly parent. The last time I spoke at a board meeting was March 3rd, the day my husband lost his job. This summer, while teaching at Southwest, I sat with my

120budget and realized that without a meaningful wage increase, my family of four could not pay our bills. A leap of faith application to Northview turned into a $16,000 raise. That offer confirmed what many teachers already know. One, GRPS wages for teachers and staff do not even compare to neighboring districts. And two, our hard work will be recognized elsewhere. But money is not the only issue. In fact, the true problem is that we are losing students by the hundreds every year. And why are students leaving? They are leaving because of the lack of safety. They are leaving because of what some have referred to as an abusive relationship. The relationship of power and fear created between principles and central office has led to a mass exodus of principles who have become middle management, forced to answer

121to executive directors instead of being allowed to lead. My own principal sat in his office with our quadrant leader for hours trying to convince him that I was traumatized by a student exposing themselves to me and my class. That student came back to school. That student reaffended. My former principal and I no longer work for GRPS. On paper, I left for the money. But in reality, being back on a GRPS campus feels like a squeeze around my windpipe. It is hard to breathe. Thinking about the lack of safety my former students and co-workers have, let alone my own daughter. July 2nd. Before applying elsewhere, I emailed the board several lowcost ways that could support teachers without increasing their salary. I got no response, so I will give a short list here. Eliminate the quadrant leader

122position. It is redundant and shows a lack of trust in the principles that you have hired. Child care partnerships would be nice. Summer stipens, gym discounts, paid paternal leave, a basic needs pantry, more recognition, and Dr. Roby, who says you have to take a pay increase this year? Dr. Roi, no one cares about the technicalities of your raise when stakeholders see as a superintendent making more than the governor of Michigan while teachers struggle to buy diapers. The hard truth is that the lack of student enrollment is leading to an inability to dramatically change the budget. Students are leaving the district because it is unsafe, filled with nepotism and intimidation, and has protected people for far too long who are now working for the best interests of our students. Peace. I'm out. [Applause] Aaron Whisner. >>

123Well, wow. That was something, >> you know. I came back to teach after being retired for 5 years. My name is Aaron Weezner. I'm teaching money class just around the corner over there to the seniors. I would not recommend they go into teaching in GRPS. I got to tell you that once they figure out how much they got to save up for bills and cars and house and retirement and something, they're going to be like, "There's no way. There's no way you could do that." Um, so where'd money go? Well, as Tim pointed out, the district is sending spending less than half of its money on teachers. Less than half. In most districts, it is about 60% 62% and that's including retirement, insurance, uh all all the stuff. You just add up how much does

124a teacher cost? Like uh the first year teachers here, $45,000, something like that. Um you add even insurance and something and maybe they cost the district 60,000 or something like that. So, how much is that? The difference between 48% going into the classroom as teachers and 60%. Well, that's $31 million. 31 That's 31 days in a month. Uh 31 days in a month, right? $31 million. So, what do we need to do? Well, we need to find $31 million. And how do we do that? Well, the board passes a a motion that the superintendent find $31 million to cut out of non-teers, non-classroom, and then that frees up the money. Now, where is that money going? Well, I heard something right now about some redundant levels of uh management. And I'm not going to suggest

125anything cuz that's what the superintendent's there for. Um, but that's where the money's going. Oh, and the salary schedule. Worst salary schedule ever. We heard earlier that somebody is in the district nine years. They've only went up three steps. That's crazy. The teacher should be going up a step every single year. I have a lot more to say, but that's enough for now. [Applause] [Music] Okay, we will move into our students who filled out public comment cards tonight. Elizabeth Stambba, followed by Grant Strauss. Oh my gosh. Hi, I'm Elizabeth Stanb. I am a 2025 graduate from city and a registered voter here in Grand Rapids. My mom is a single mom and she is my sole support. She has been a GRPS high school teacher for the last four years. Growing up with a single

126mother on a teacher's salary has never been easy, especially considering the fact that I am a type 1 diabetic and have been for the last 13 years. I need medical supplies and insulin to survive. I watch my mom work herself to the bone every single day. But every year, health insurance costs go up and it feels like we're always fighting just to afford the medicine that keeps me alive. In the four years of her working at GRPS, the complications of my disease have been a challenging have been a challenge because of the district's choice to keep increasing the cost of medical wait sorry to the choice to keep keep decreasing the cost of medical coverage that they will cover and instead of picking plans that could reduce the actual cost of medicine for someone like

127me. The stress I see on my mother's face when she pays the medical bills is indescribable. I have to watch her choose between making memories with her daughter, whether that be small trips or events or keeping her daughter alive. I know she would do anything for me, but I also know that no family should have to choose between money and health. No kid, no child should feel guilty for needing the medicine that keeps them alive. And no organization should continually harm its employees to offset their redundant costs. All I am asking is to live and not just survive. My family and families like mine deserve lower costs, medical coverage, and a better future. Deserve wait and a better future. Your lack of care does not make me feel physically safe as your actions have direct

128consequences on my life and care. Do better GRPS for your students and your staff. Thank you. Gramp Strauss followed by Corey Jen Gentacovs CA Frost student. How about Anna Gentricov's Rudy as well? Iris, Oscar, how Sophie, how [Applause] >> Middle High. I repeat, this isn't fair. I have wonderful teachers at Southwest and they work their heart out every day to make sure we get the education we need even though they don't get paid what they deserve. I'm asking you to raise their pay so they can stay at Southwest without feeling the fear that they won't make enough to support themselves. The teachers at Southwest are the best teachers in the world. For example, my fifth grade teacher went out of her way every day to sell snacks after school so we could raise money to

129go on field trips. My seventh grade STEM teacher would make sure to look everywhere to find field trips that tie into what we were learning. This year in 8th grade already, my math teacher has started getting to school early in the morning and staying light late to answer our questions and help us succeed. As you walk through the halls of Southwest, every teacher will wave, say hello, and acknowledge you. That's because at Southwest, us students form an unbreakable bond with the teachers. And that's why I'm here tonight to stand up for all my teachers. I started in K Southwest in kindergarten, and I want to be there all the way in through high school. And I want my teachers to be right there beside me. Glor. Gracias. Is Oscar here? Okay. Eric Brown, followed by

130Daniel Shupe. Good evening. First, I want to say that Eric, my name is Eric Brown, president CEO of the Urban League of West Michigan. First thing I want to say tonight is that we're in full support of teachers making more money and we're supportive of them advocating in the right way for them uh to get paid what they need to get paid. I just want to bring to light real quick a 250 years worth of a country 12 to 13 generations worth of a country and a government that has not been interested in the education of the most vulnerable of us for this whole period of time. Unfortunately, because of that, I I won't I won't we all know about pie versus Ferguson. We're familiar with Brown versus Board education. We're familiar with the the

131the the provisions in the Civil Rights Act around education. all these unfunded mandates that have been spoken of. These are all things that are on you guys laps and in the laps of our teachers to have to deal with. Now, I'll park real quick for a second of 1994. This might not be this might not resonate as much as those other dates, but 1994, Michigan passed proposal A that codified inequities in school funding that gives boards the challenge of being trying to be able to provide equitable education to the most vulnerable. It was codified into law to makes everything more difficult so that the most vulnerable of us do not receive the education that we need to to receive. So again, once again, I'm in support. Am I at one minute yet? >> Close to

132>> Yeah. 30 seconds left. >> 30 seconds left. Okay. So, I'm in support of teachers making more, but I am not in support of of forums where u vulgar language uh expletives are being hurled at at the board where where people are pre where our students are present and they have to leave because they don't feel safe and experiencing their first time here. So, how we advocate for those things is the responsibility of the board. So, Madame President, I appreciate your comment of earlier today and I hope the rest of the board was paying attention because you guys are all responsible to make sure this is a safe environment for our community and looking forward to that. And we all have our own responsibility as and I promote I I encourage you guys continue your

133good faith negotiation, but let's think about things about negotiating benefits as well and also think about that person from the table created in the image of God just like you. >> Thank you. Daniel Shu, followed by Jane Neman. >> Yes, my name is Daniel Scott, >> 40-year resident of the city. Now, I know why the Lord leads me to pray for you every day. I can see you need prayer. If any of you have a personal prayer request that you want to give to me, I'll be happy to lift that up to the Lord for you. Well, I've seen the decline over these 40 years of the GRPS. And the solution is simple. Bring back the Holy Scriptures. >> Yes, bring back the Holy Scriptures. Think back to when it was allowed in GRPS and

134how you prospered. The school the schools prospered. God is going to cut off the funds because of the garbage that is taught to teach evolution. By the way, that's a religion. Scripture says God created the heavens and the earth. And if you teach children that they came from animals, they will act like animals. Scripture says God made man and woman, two genders. Stop teaching anything else. >> If you want God's blessing, >> I'm not comfortable with >> teach. Bring back the holy scriptures. Crime will go down. Education efficiency will go up. In fact, teach them to read the Bible. If they teach, if they learn to read the Bible, they will read much better because God will bless them for that. >> Don't tell me to separate church and state. You're already teaching religion. It's

135called atheism and humanism. That is a religion. >> Teach about Jesus. Jesus who died for our sins that we might have eternal life. And this book >> that's time >> tells everyone how to live. >> Thank you. That's time. >> Thank you. >> Do we have a speaker that didn't Okay, who do we have? >> Daniel Craft. >> Okay, thank you. >> Um, my name is Danny Craft. I go to City and I'm a seventh grader. My previous teachers at my old school, North Park Monasuri, were the best teachers I've ever had. Take example Miss Edger over there. Um, she works so hard to make kids learn and make kids happy. And she teaches three grades at once because it's a monastery school and sorry. Um, yeah. Sometimes there's kids who are just above grade

136level and they need better education. And Miss Sedinger teaches that. And sometimes she has to teach five um five grade levels, which I think is great if you can do that. Also, my dad, he is a great teacher, but he had to leave because North View was offering a 19% pay raise. That is just not acceptable. if you are GRPS. Um, and you're all you're always talking about how GRPS is my choice. My choice is to give the teachers more money. Thank you, Jane Neman, followed by Rebecca Beltran. Good evening. My name is Jane Neman. I'm the vice president of GR and a teacher at Union High School. Um, first of all, I second so much of what was said tonight and I have been saying similar things for the last two years in my

137tenure as vice president GRA and I hope that you are listening because it is so awesome to hear these parents and students speak up in behalf of their teachers. Um, I saw some things scrolling across the screen. I wasn't inside the board meeting last Monday because I gave my space to someone else and was in the lobby. I felt like you had heard me enough and I thought it was time for other people to speak out and they did and I'm very proud of them and very happy that they are here. Your number three on your moral imperative statement says every scholar will have a quality teacher. moral imperative are the key words there I think on that slide and I'm just wondering if we're we're actually holding to that statement. I also thought it

138ironic that I received four emails today about nepotism staff advisory policies vector videos which by the way a whole bunch of teachers did their GNC's because nobody bothered to tell them that they shouldn't do those. So that's going to be a fun conversation that I have with Michelle Dexter in in the next week. Um, but I also found found the fourth one ironic because it said, "Make sure you're familiar with your bargaining agreement. GRPS this fall violated the bargaining agreement by paying teachers wrongfully against the contract language, not by not paying them equally in 21 or 26 pays. I have principles who don't know the bargaining agreement. I don't think it's just teachers that need to know their bargaining agreement, and I know many don't read it because they don't have time, but that's why

139we're here. But I also think it's important for the district to know that agreement as well and to hold to it. Um evaluation was given out today. The guide book once again totally unfair. Uh our ESL teachers are going to be graded based on the entire district-wide data. How is that fair? >> Will over the young man who spoke today is going to be graded on the entire district. He's an awesome teacher. He is highly effective. Thank you. >> Thank you. Rebecca Beltrin, followed by Bin Dika. I'm back. Hello, my name is Rebecca Latran. I'm again the daughter of an immigrant and on the eve of the day of National Independence of Mexico, I am here fighting for my rights once again. I want to stay in GRPS. I fell in love with this community,

140the community of Grand Rapids, because I'm from the south suburbs of Chicago. I fell in love when I went to Aquinus and was able to work in the GRPS schools. I volunteered at Cesar Chavez. I volunteered at Alger. I I was a long-term sub at city. I was a student teacher at City. I worked at Ottawa last year. I work at City this year. I love my job. Let me catch where I am. I have friends who wanted to be here tonight. They couldn't. They're working a second job. I have friends who couldn't join the union. They couldn't. A $100 was too much a month. How is that fair? How is that right? I have been through two years of professional development in GRPS and I have seen career educators come from GRPS into these

141PDs. They tell us, "Oh, I love working at GRPS. I love being a GRPS teacher. I want to love being a GRPS teacher. I want to be a career educator in GRPS. Why are you pushing me out? Why are you not giving me the opportunity to stay? I love my students. Some of you are their parents. You know, I love my students. I love the work I do. I love my job. I wake up every day with a smile on my face, so excited to go in. I love my kids. I can't stay here if I'm making $10,000 less than other districts. My brother just started in CPS. $71,000 a year. I'm making half of that. I'm going to have a master's degree and I'm still going to be making half of that. Please look

142at me and tell me I deserve that. So, I just have one question this week. I want to stay in GRPS. I'm begging you. I'm begging you. Please let me stay in GRPS. I love my students. So, why are you pushing me out? That's all I got. >> Brenda, followed by Tanya Edin Edinger. Hi, my name is Brenda and this is my third school year in GRPS. I know you've heard many stories about teachers leaving the district for better paying jobs in the suburbs, but my story is the opposite and I wanted to share it with you. Before coming here, I taught in Zealand public schools for 11 years. Same school, same classroom, even my job was very stable and steady. Of course, the students kept things interesting, but the trust and respect I had

143from my district and leadership was never questioned. One moment from the beginning of my career in Zealand that I will never forget was when we were given key cards to unlock our building. The superintendent himself reiterated that the reason they are able to track who enters the building was for our own safety. Not for security reasons or due to a blatant lack of trust, but for us and our safety. That made an impact on me. However, as nice as Zealand was in a lot of ways, it didn't feel like me. After the pandemic, having two babies, and a lot of thought, I pursued GRPS and I didn't give up until I was hired in my dream job. Within the first month in my new school here at GRPS, I felt at home. I've never felt

144so comfortable in a new place as I did at CA Frost. The staff, students, and families quickly became dear to my heart. I have often said, "It's a good thing I love it here because otherwise I might hate it here." Working in this district, I am dismayed at the lack of trust and respect for teachers, including the GRE. I am distraught at the lack of payraises over the years. I am embarrassed at the way our district is viewed by the county as we have the lowest teacher pay and cannot even seem to bargain a fair contract. On that note, if I had to choose one thing from my previous district that I missed the most, it would be the amicable relationship between the district admin and our teachers union. Can't you see that we are

145actually fighting for the same outcome, which is the best education for our kids? Can't you see that our working conditions as teachers are equal to children's learning conditions? Please do better, GRPS. I am so grateful to be here. Please don't continue to push us away. Thank you. >> Tanya Edinger, followed by Elise Horac. I'm Tanya Edinger. I teach at North Park and it's really late and I'm really tired and I didn't have any planning time today and I won't have any planning time tomorrow and in fact I won't have planning time till 2:50 on Wednesday which is pretty normal. Um but the good news is when I'm nervous I talk really fast I'll be done so quick. Um I have been a highly effective teacher multiple times which is cool and all that because then

146you don't have to go through your evaluation. Um it also means people always want you to take on student teachers and teacher apprentices and all those other things. So, I take on a lot of those from Grand Valley, from Aquinus, from G Oh, so many GRCC students. And I can't convince any of them to take a job in GRPS. I couldn't convince my own daughters who graduated from GRPS that they even wanted to be teachers because they see how teachers are treated so poorly. And some of y'all know my daughters. You have heard from my daughters. They're amazing. um these young people that I work with from the universities, they're such good teachers and other people are benefiting from them. The other thing that I get to do a lot is mentor young teachers, which

147is great. I put all this time into them. You pay me for that. It's a pittance, but you pay me for that, which like acknowledges that it's valuable. Um and then they leave because they can't handle it as new teachers for all the reasons that have already been said tonight. So I all that to say I'm doing what I can do and that's like all that I can do. So now I need you to do what you can do so that these people that I'm pouring my life into not just my students but like the future they also can do what we all need them to do. Thank you >> Elise Horac followed by Grace Heisinga. >> Good evening. My name is Elise Horac and I teach at CA Frost Middle High. Teaching at CA

148Frost is my dream job. I love my colleagues. I love our families. And most of all, I love our kids. I love watching a ninth grader who used to skip every class climb into our stream with a net to collect macro invertebrates. I love reading the pages of backstory eighth graders write about their element superheroes. I love when the seventh grade boys show up feeling sharp with a fresh haircut on picture day. I love when a 10th grader who used to sleep through class cries and hugs his teachers on the last day of school because he finally feels loved. We are truly a family at CA Frost, but as you've heard earlier today, our family is shrinking. After a principal announced he was leaving for another district, two other teachers left this summer. All three

149of those people love CA Frost and never would have left if not for the bigger problems in this district. And when good teachers leave, families follow them. One of my former colleagues left because she couldn't afford to support her family. I make around $55,000 today, which is the same as I did a decade ago in another district before I got my master's degree, except because of inflation, that money now has the buying power of only $41,000. So essentially, I make over $10,000 less than I did when I was 23. We are not asking for anything extravagant like say $280,000. We are asking to at least keep up with inflation so teachers don't take a pay cut every single year. We are asking for you to help us afford to stay with the kids we love.

150It takes an incredible amount of privilege to afford to work at GRPS. Because of my own privilege, my home family can afford for me to stay with my Frost family for now, but we won't be able to for another decade. And that reality breaks my heart. If you want to put students first, you have to support the teachers who love them and spend our days nurturing them. Teachers are angry. We are angry. We love our kids and we want to stay with them. And if we didn't, we'd already be working in a neighboring district for an extra $10,000 or $16,000. We are here because we want to save GRPS. If you truly can't afford to help me stay Oh. Um, we are here because I want to save GRPS. I would love to retire from

151CA Frost. Please help me afford to stay. Thank you. >> Grace Heisinga, followed by Joe Ali. Hi. Um, my name is Grace Heisinga and I teach sixth grade math at Riverside Middle School. First, I want to thank you for taking the time to hear all of these um, wonderful public comments. I am hopeful that through this dialogue perhaps there will be a better understanding of the teachers needs so that we can finally come to a contract that we are satisfied with. I wanted to address the board with the claim that classrooms are adequately supplied with resources for student learning and for student and for teachers to teach. Now, this is my first full year as a teacher, and last year I started halfway through the year replacing an Elevate teacher. I came into a classroom

152that was lacking a great deal of materials and was provided with very few supplies. Thankfully, my mom is a teacher herself and was able to share with me many of the resources she has collected throughout the years in order to get me started. However, that was not enough. Um, this summer I put together an Amazon wish list and sent it out to my aunts, my uncles, grandparents, and friends in hopes of their willingness to support my efforts to supply my classroom with the things that I needed to make my classroom practical, engaging, and rewarding. I bought a pencil sharpener for my classroom in the spring of last year because there was no sharpener provided by the school. Um, I sprung for the high-end one at $30. Um, unfortunately within the first two weeks of this

153school year, a fight broke out in my classroom and the students broke it. So then I had to buy another one. $60 down the drain. Um, I have supplied a lot of my own stuff to my classroom. Expo markers, candy, pens, colored pencils, pencil boxes, and more. I was also only given 16 chro No, I was supposed to be given 16 Chromebooks. I was only given six Chromebooks at the beginning of the school year. Um, >> time. >> Oh, >> that's time. >> Please do better for our teachers and our students. Thank you. >> Joe Ali, followed by Chris Pelton. >> I'm Joe Ali. I teach at Ottawa for the second time around. Um, I'm not here for myself. I won't be doing this a lot longer. I'm here for my colleagues, my young colleagues

154who I see daily pour their heart and soul into their job. They love the kids. They love the job. And I also hear them, and it's not like they're whining, but I do hear them worried about paying bills. Okay? And they should not have to worry about paying bills. Um, I know there are other situations that come into play with the money for the district has, but at the end of the day, you are the ones who determine their pay. All right? There are other people to blame and it is a shame, but when you go to bed at night, I wonder if you feel any shame. Thank you. [Music] Chris Pelton, followed by Olivia Rodriguez, Chris Pelton, Olivia Rodriguez, Renee Taylor, followed by Commissioner Robert Wulmarmac. Hello, my name is Renee Taylor and this

155is year, sorry, this is year 25. I teach second grade at Brookside. I got a lot to say. GRPS prides itself on being equity focused on their strategic plan. However, teacher pay is grossly inequitable compared with other Kent County districts. We have the hardest working teachers in West Michigan. Someone told me not to say that because it would create division, but other districts know that and they love hiring us. Um, people send their kids to schools because of the teachers. Teachers are the face of the school district. The bulk of district resources should be directed to teachers and classrooms. Administration loves to say that we do what's best for scholars. It's best for scholars for schools to be fully staffed with certified teachers, not subs for extended periods of time. It's best for scholars to

156have a teacher who is not stressed out and can pay their bills on a salary that is competitive with surrounding districts. It's best for scholars and families to know who their teachers are year after year and to have consistency and instruction. It's best for scholars to have services that are on their IEPs. It's best for scholars and staff to work in buildings where the culture is healthy. I know work around district culture has been started, but the district's toxic culture of fear, retribution, and weaponizing the evaluation process is alive and well. What you witnessed last week, Oops. What you witnessed last week was a portion of how frustrated, angry, and dissatisfied staff has been for years. I am certain that you don't understand how difficult our work is if you knew negotiations wouldn't take 16

157months and we would not be hemorrhaging teachers. Commissioner Robert Wat followed by >> Thank you very much. Feels good to stretch my legs and everybody else been sitting. So being a Grand Rapids public school student myself that graduated here. I just want to ask all the teachers to stand up please. I want to thank you for all the teachers I never had a chance to thank. And everybody in here, stand up, including the board, and give them a standing ovation that they deserve. If you love education, stand up and give our teachers that standing ovation that they deserve. I had a few seconds to fit that in. Thank you. I had a few seconds to fit that in cuz I didn't have to address profanity. And I'm just very happy that everybody has expressed themselves

158because what they're expressing is so important. I don't beat up on the board or the superintendent because I know that you inherited the Titanic. >> When you ran, you didn't know what you were getting into. But we have to say the Titanic cuz our kids are at the bottom of that Titanic. You inherited a school board that had already privatized busing and support systems for our teachers. You inherited a school system that depleted our city league sports team for self. You inherited a school that had people working at the school on the school board that was also taking money from people that were promoting school vouchers. That's what you walked into. But the time has come that we must understand our teachers come first. If you fail one teacher, you failed 30 kids. If you

159fail one teacher is 30 kids. If you fail 30 teachers, you fail 300 kids. If we fail, and I say we, the school board and the government don't let us off the hook. The state budget for education is always late because they don't value education. But it's never late when politicians need a raise. >> That's time. >> That's my time. If you fail 300 teachers, you fail 9,000 kids. If you fail 9,000 kids, you fail a community. >> 10% raise by any means necessary. Thank >> John Vandenhov. >> Followed by Amy Paul. Good evening board. Uh, Superintendent Roby. Uh, my name is John Vandenhuvil and I teach seventh and eighth grade social studies at City High Middle School. Uh, I spoke last year on teacher pay. So, I'm here for the same thing but a

160little bit different. So, I'm confused though as how the district is closing buildings, uh, eliminating positions and still having a budget deficit when we've had surpluses in the past. How are we projecting a deficit whenever teacher pay isn't going up? Teacher pay has not gone up meaningfully and an average increase of 4 and a.5% would really only affect the overall budget by maybe two maybe 3%. So how are these budget deficits uh in existence whenever costs have not risen meaningfully? So I completely doubt the district's financial resp responsibility and ability to manage. We see administrative staff getting high singledigit to low double-digit raises while we remain the same. GRPS projects a budget deficit this year where in previous years they have had large surpluses going up to $40 million. It's almost as if the deficit

161was created in order to get leverage and bargaining for this year. I feel like the district is in shambles. We have had constant issues with our paychecks, constant issues with the district not respecting our time and only worrying about the bottom line so that they can reward themselves for doing such a great job to getting graduation rates up while students are suffering and uh success for career and college readiness, right? We can all sit behind and say, "Oh, every student can graduate as long as we give them the E star or get them on the E2020. We can get them to graduate, but they're not ready. They're reading at second and third grade levels as seniors and juniors. I did my student teaching at UPREP just three years ago and asked my former mentor teacher,

162"Oh, who's up on the third floor these days? Is anyone still there?" Not a single name of the 10 teachers on that third floor did I recognize? >> That's time. >> Um, but overall, I believe that the district needs to come to the negotiation table in good faith. Every day that we don't have a contract is disrespecting us. Thank you, >> Amy Paul, followed by Danny Craft. Hello, my name is Amy Paul and I am the ELAB teacher at CA Frost Elementary and a parent of two GRPS students. To be honest, I don't want to be here right now. I'd rather be at home with my family helping with homework, helping eat dinner together, or putting my children to bed. But I'm here because I feel I have to be. I love my school students,

163the staff I work with, and I care deeply about the families we serve. But the truth is, the low pay is making it incredibly hard to stay. I didn't become an educator for the money. None of us did. But when your paycheck doesn't cover the rising cost of living, when the health cost of health insurance goes up, and when you're forced to consider leaving a job you love just to support your own family, something is broken. Last year, I made less money than the previous year due to the steady increase in insurance premiums and the cost of living. No profession should expect its employees to make less money each year for doing the same hard work and certainly not education where we're entrusted with preparing the future. And it's not just about pay, it's about

164trust. Teachers are trained professionals. We know our students. We know what they need, but we're often micromanaged or buried under mandates from people who've never stepped foot in our classrooms. If we truly want the best for kids, we have to trust the people who work with them every single day. And finally, respect. Respect isn't just saying nice things during teacher appreciation week. It's listening to us, involving us in decisions, providing us with the calendar for the year, and treating us like the experts we are. I didn't want to be away from my family tonight, nor did I want to last Monday. But I'm here because I cared too much to stay silent. Our students deserve teachers who can afford to stay in this profession, not those forced out by burnout or financial hardship. >> That's

165time to make a motion to continue. >> Danny Craft Okay, board members, we're at that 9:30 mark. So, I need a motion to >> Oh, >> a student. >> We just have to vote to extend the meeting past 9:30 as part of our policy. >> Yep. >> Um, can I make I'd like to make a motion to extend the meeting past 9:30 p.m. >> Seconded. >> All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? Okay, motion carries. We will continue with our meeting. I'm sorry. Did you say there's a student that filled out a card? >> What's the name? >> Name was called. >> Harper, come on up. Whatever. Um, hello. My name is Harper Vanderling. First off, and I know last meeting we made it pretty clear we were mad, but isn't it pretty

166disrespectful to walk out during public comment? Isn't it pretty disrespectful looking down at your phones while our community members are talking to you? You said you want you you said you won't tolerate disrespect, so we won't either. I won't I want you all Sorry, I'm nervous to look me in the face. I want you all to give me all your attention to and listen very clearly to these words. raise our teachers pay. I never want to talk at these board meetings, but I need to listen. I need you to listen to us. We are literally telling you what we need while you debate whether to adjourn the meeting for over half an hour. And also, hey, do you think we should raise teachers pay? I should be at home right now. I don't I don't

167like talking at these board meetings. Instead, I'm here. I'm begging you to pay my teachers pay or pay my teachers more and live streaming this meeting because GRPS refuses to do it. Thank you. Danny Craft is not here. Correct. Ivan Diaz, followed by Wendy Winston. Hello, my name is Wendy Winston and I'll skip the all the greetings so that I can use my time. Um, Grand Rapids Public Schools is an incredible school district. I live in Grand Rapids and I love it. That is why I have been fighting for 25 years to help make it better. And most of the people on the stage and in this room know that I'm proud to be an educator in Grand Rapids public schools. Our students are amazing. They're empathetic, creative, fun, and many have great senses of

168humor. I love the work that I do. I really enjoy working with my students and their caregivers. My colleagues are some of the most amazing human beings I've ever known, and several of them brought tears to my eyes tonight. People that I work with very closely. They pour everything into their work. This work is difficult and I know some of you up there know because you've worked in schools and you've worked with students. You know how exhausting it is. You know how difficult it is. Some sometimes I'm so exhausted after students are dismissed that I can't grade papers, respond to emails or contact parents. I'm just brain dead. I dream about teaching. I have teaching nightmares and probably a lot of people in this room do too. I'm not complaining. I'm just highlighting that every

169educator in this room, every educator in this district is all in for GRPS. We wouldn't be here if we weren't. They're all in for GRPS until they're not. Cara Shore, followed by Bethany Delazy. Y'all look tired and some of you are in your first year. My name is Cara Shower. My children previously attended GRPS. This is the first year I have no kids here and they're still in elementary. Um, we had to leave for safety reasons because of staffing upheaval because my kids 504s couldn't be accommodated because there weren't enough staff in the building. Um, it sucks. Since being in a new district with high staff retention rates with teachers with more adequate planning time and appropriate support in classroom resources, I have wildly different children. They're healthier, they're happier, they're better educated because they

170can focus when they're at school. They're less anxious. And they're more empowered. I hate that. Every kid in this district should be in a building that empowers them and enables them in that exact same way. We should not have to cross into the East Grand Rapids or into Kentwood or any of the other myriad of buildings here. We have options and we have to choose what's best for our kids. We want it to be here. Three years ago, I started regularly attending these board meetings. Nothing's really changed. The same teachers are fighting. The same board members are listening. The same ones are not. How did I get here to this place where you have hundreds of teachers showing up? Begging you for dignity and for respect. As you go through these contract negotiations, I ask

171that you figure out where and why trust broke down and what you need to do to restore it. This is not just about money. This is about humanity and our future. Thank you. [Music] Hi, I'm Bethany Dubé and I am a parent, an aunt, and a neighbor of many GRPS students. And I attended last week's meeting without um planning to speak, but after it was rescheduled or extended, I decided that I really want to add my voice to this very large chorus of people who are fully in support of increasing teacher pay. I have my own stories too of the amazing impact GRPS teachers and coaches have had on my family, but I can't implore you any more than they have. I do want to tell you what I'm hoping for. I am hoping that

172you are going to do something really big. I am hoping that you are ready to do something so dramatic, so obviously in favor of our staff that you are going to blow everyone in this room and our entire community away. I am hoping that you are going to take such a big bold dramatic action that is way beyond bringing teacher pay to average or what like something big that makes us the destination district that we ought to be and you are going to leave us all speechless. Thank you, >> Justin Walcott, followed by Tom Neibore. >> I can sit here and tell you that like I've been a businessman. I am a lawyer. I don't need to teach. I came to teach and I shouldn't have to be the solo dad of two teenage boys

173and have take-home pay that is 23 of what it would cost me to rent a threebedroom apartment. That's it I get. If I had an apartment, if I could afford an apartment with a doctor's degree, same degree as many of the people in the administration who are making five times as much as we are and we can't even afford an apartment. But what's even more amazing is when I was a lawyer practicing in Los Angeles, one of my one of my greatest experiences was going to a mediation with a judge and we showed up prepared because we respected the judge and we respected our clients and their clients. when the mediation on the other side didn't show up with somebody who had the authority to make decisions at a mediation. The judge fined them $1,000

174for every minute that he wasted. His time was wasted because they would not put someone in the room who could make decisions and close this out. I challenge the board to start finding your administrators for not putting people in the room who can make decisions. We need to get this done. It is disgusting. >> Tom Nebour followed by Ivon Malarov. Hello, my name is Thomas Nebore. he him and I am the secretary for the Grand Rapids branch of the IWW, the Industrial Workers of the World, and I am here in solidarity with my fellow workers. Thank you, President uh Trustee Buskick, for that saliloquy on the opaque nature of the freedom of speech. Um, however, I believe that would have sounded much more at place at some private school for repressed rich kids. But benefit

175of the doubt, maybe we missed some important context from your secret meeting. Um, I first heard about the issues plaguing GRPS from my cousin. She was a high school math teacher for GRPS. I say was because she quit a few years ago due to all the things that people have already said. Um, and the extreme ease of finding a higher payer job with significantly easier workload and better benefits. Um, seems like things have changed, but uh, not for the better. This has been a long time coming. You have underpaid your teachers for decades. You have special ed teachers that are so under staff that it is literally impossible to provide the instruction and support that is required by law for your most vulnerable students. Your elementary schools have so few staff that there have been

176instances of students that are running into the street and community members are stepping in to save them. And your teachers work late into the night because admin can't get them planning time. Commissioner Walmck's Titanic metaphor was apt. It's so bad principles are abandoning ship. The only reason your schools are even functioning is because of your teachers and they're bailing like mad. Friends, last week was nothing. Once the parents of your students realize this board is silencing the very serious concerns for basic student safety due to your callous leadership and constant belittling of the teachers needs, you're going to need a bigger auditorium. Supported teachers make safe schools. If you believe this and you respect what your teachers have said today, >> then please publicly commit to an amended budget with a fair contract by November.

177Thank you, >> Ivan Delara. Followed by Nicole Notorio Risk. Good evening. My name is Nicole Naterio Risk. I'm the parent of a second and fifth grader at GRPS. Speaking today in support of increased wages for our GRPS teachers. Our teachers are amazing and deserve a wage that allows them to have a strong quality of life. My son's teacher had to have a second job as a barista at Starbucks on top of his full-time teaching job, managing a full mixed grade classroom with no teaching or student assistance in sight. At the end of the school year, he finally left to take a job for a significant increase in salary at Detroit public schools. I can appreciate the pressures and considerations administrators face at the district level. I was initially excited about the transformation plan in hopes

178that it could fully staff our buildings and get teachers and students the stability and support they need. However, I've become extremely disheartened to see many of those plans now being delayed or pulled back. I do not believe new modern buildings will solve any of the enrollment, recruitment, and retention issues in this district. The classrooms inside aren't led by qualified teachers who feel respected and valued by their district. This district loves to communicate innovation and wins. We have an opportunity here to be a regional leader in how teacher compensation could be turned around, ultimately leading to a more stable and successful school district. That would be a victory worth sharing. Thank you, Scott Urbanowski. Good evening. Scott Urbanowski, proud member of the National Writers Union as well as Pride at Work. And I am here to

179stand in solidarity with my union siblings in the GREA. Now, I actually live in the Kentwood public school district. In fact, I'm an East Kenwood High School graduate and I'm proud of the education that I received. And let me tell you, I agree with what's been said tonight that your scholars, GRPS scholars, deserve a high quality education, no matter where you are. And our educators that we that you see behind me, they are the ones making it happen. So, here's what I want you to think about. What do you want your legacy to be? You've heard the pain. You've heard the frustration from people of all ages, both educators, students, members of the community. Do you want that to be your legacy? I hope not. And I can't imagine any of you do. So, my

180ask of you is this. Do you want that to be your legacy? Or do you want it to be your legacy that you helped increase teacher pay, that you made sure that our educators are paid what they deserve and that our that your scholars that the scholars that these individuals work with every single day of the school year? Do you want it to be your legacy that you helped make them you helped bring retain them and you helped make these scholars education the best that it can possibly be because that's your going to be your legacy not just now but years and decades into the future when these scholars go on to make a positive difference not just in West Michigan but all around the world and I look forward to seeing them make that

181difference thanks to these educators behind me >> Emily Jen Jendriov's Micah Perkins. >> Unice Lron. Good evening board members. I'm Ununice Lron, a parent, grandparent, my aunt for my kids that are in GRPS. I want to speak on behalf of the teachers. What I've noticed over the years is the lack of um teachers that the qualified teachers that we have. We have a lot of um subs sometimes and I would like to see where my kids, my grandkids have teachers that they can trust that they they see every day to learn and if we care about our students and like we say we do. I think these teachers deserve a better pay than what they're having. We have qualified teachers that are not only qualified but they are committed teachers that they are at the

182school also our principal. I volunteer at Burton and I've been volunteering for years and every day that I go to school um I see the hard work that these teachers are putting in. I see the time that they're putting in. But as a parent and a grandparent, I feel real bad for our teachers who doing so much work, who staying sometime later than they should just to help our students. I think it's a shame that the pay that they are getting um is not helping them. Some of them might have to even sell their homes. That's how bad it is. I feel right now that um consider the cost of living is going up, but their pay is going down. Don't just hear us, but do something about what is being said. Give the teachers

183the pay they deserve. Thank you. >> Kate Osborne, followed by James Rex. >> Thank you. James Rex, followed by Selen Tran. Good evening. My name is James Rex. I'm the proud parent of a third grader and a kindergartener who attends CA Frost. Standing here today feels like a full circle moment for me. You see, 15 years ago, I was hired to teach high school math here in GRPS. In fact, in this very building. And as I started my teaching career, I was fortunate enough to be mentored by some wonderful educators. They were passionate about teaching and learning, knowledgeable about content and pedigogy, and most importantly, they cared deeply for our students. Unfortunately, after four years of teaching, a harsh reality was setting in. My wife and I wanted to start our own family, but simply

184couldn't afford it. GRPS was one of the lowest paying districts, and on top of that, I had been frozen on step one for all of my years. When I was recruited by another former GRPS teacher to apply for an open position in another urban district, I applied and took that job along with the 40% raise so that I could support my own family. It broke my heart to leave, but I had no choice. Since I left the district in 2015, I watched many of the exceptional educators I worked alongside leave the district for similar reasons. The issue of compensation and teacher retention has been an ongoing problem for years. And while I know this challenge is one the board and administration inherited, I know we can do better. We must do better. Compared to my

185GRPS counterparts with similar experience in education, I make significantly more. If my district can find the money to compensate teachers, then this district can too. And it's time to make it a priority. I'll end with this. As I dropped my son off at kindergarten on his first day of school just a few years ago, I watched as Miss Colleen Pitzer skillfully swooped in to help my crying child. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for her. And I'll never forget how patiently and empathetically she interacted with him and made him feel valued. I think it's about time this district show how much they value their teachers with their actions and compensate them for the amazing work they do each day. When you compensate teachers, you enrich the learning for all children. Thank you. Okay. Salem Tron. Um

186the first point I want to make a couple speakers ago, you saw all of these educators stand. All of these educators will also still be at work tomorrow tomorrow morning. A lot of us starting at 7:40 a.m. It is almost now 1000 p.m. 7:40 start time for the students. We're there way before that. Um this is how bad and how much we are begging you to help us. Moving on, there are three main reasons teachers and profess um certified professional staff leave GRPS for another district. One, they can earn money more money more in every other district in the county. Two, they're giving much more respect. And three, they have much less stress. I could talk about pay for hours, why we deserve a higher salary, who got the raise when, and who has a

187pay freeze, and who doesn't. But salary isn't the only issue when it comes to pay. So many people have to fight tooth and nail for their pay when completing additional work. This leads to the second reason, respect. In other districts, boards of educations, board of education members, and top administrators, including superintendents know, understand, and follow laws such as open meetings act. They do not then chastise their educators and public for being the issue for the chaos. when the board themselves are the one in violation. Another point to respect is that teachers in other districts are believed when they do additional work. They are given the pay when they do this work. They don't have to jump through six hoops, six three six people to get paid. Teachers are treated as professionals. They are trusted to

188have professional learning committees run by the professionals, the teachers themselves. The most simple example of respect given from other districts is their pay. Lastly, teachers are less stressed in other districts. An easy example of this is that they don't have to be at these board meetings begging for the basics. They don't spend their Monday nights explaining the wrongs and mistreatments they face. Teachers in other districts aren't expected to bring students to speed and learning because their current just spent three years without a certified teacher. If you could be paid more, given more respect, have less stress, wouldn't you leave, too? >> Javante Tubs, followed by Nicholas Gerenlau, Javvante Tubs. Okay. Nicholas, you can go ahead. >> I'll uh do my best to be coherent. Forgive me. I uh was on my way to the meeting

189last week and I remember seeing au a kid in the street and uh I didn't know the kid um but I remember recognizing the feeling of how familiar it is to see a kid here in GRPS and recognize him as a kid that could be my student. And as a teacher now having been a GRPS teacher here in this building for four years, I feel like I have 150 kids. Like they I have 150 kids. And I did the math. I work outside of my teaching of, you know, seven and a half hours a day. I work about three hours extra a day. So that's like 55 hours a week where I'm getting paid for like 30 35 of them. And I realize more than ever how much better I can do if I go

190home and I put more time into my job. But the problem with being a teacher in GRPS is that the most irresponsible thing you can do is go home and not work a different job. Because like Kelsey Babbledike said, I think she was about third or fourth speaker tonight, the money, the stress that we have with every expense, it puts our living at such razor thin margins that we have to work another job. Most of us here, most of my co-workers in this building are working another job. This is the first time, this past month is the first time in five years between this building and Algeria where I worked where I have not worked two or three jobs at the same time. And money is terrible. My car smells it's going to blow up

191and I don't know what I'm going to do when it does. And that's all I wanted to say. This is really hard. Please give us more money. Okay, I believe that concludes our public comment for this evening. Um, oh, Marta, I did call you um earlier. You can come on up. That's fine. Is there anybody else that was on the list from last week? Okay, go ahead, Marta. Thank you so much. It's my daughter's birthday today, so I had to go home and uh celebrate her. So, I appreciate you taking the time to listen to me. Now, um I am a mom of two GRPS students. I'm a frequent attender of meetings and have been involved in uh supporting and organizing alongside parents in the community um to lift up GRPS uh even before my

192kids started school. I wanted to touch on a few things. one, I think the sentiments have already been shared on the urgent need uh for a fair contract, but I want to center it also in the urgent need to deal with a fair contract within also the realm of the Eureka group report, which speaks to some of the culture issues that people have been speaking to um uh about fear of retaliation um challenges um having issues addressed um and that sort of thing. things that I've noticed also as a a parent that's been involved um alongside the district. I think what we really need is the board to publicly commit that they are going to work and do whatever they can to get an amended budget by the end of November, including a fair contract.

193So, that's just a call in to any board member that's willing to publicly commit to doing that. That means that you're going to have to push the district for uh what different budgets would have to look like and push for that immediately. Uh just to underscore the work that needs to be built into that kind of commitment. Um second, let's see, I don't know how much time I have left. Um but I I also want to speak to the uh the having the the right way to advocate. I think that it's really important that we speak from our hearts. I've heard so many people get emotional, uh, get angry, and that is all understandable. Um, and I I also want you to recognize that we are all here because we're hurting. Um, and we haven't

194been felt like we've been heard for years. As people have said before, yes, these are these are problems that you've inherited, but we need you to step up. Thank you so much. Okay, moving on. I do not have any um further board announcements for or president announcements for tonight. So, superintendent comments, do you have any comments? >> I want to be respectful of people's time. And I know it's 10:00 and so I will just say very quickly um people do hear and I know that a lot of our audience members have gone home. Um it is not it is never intended to be an us versus you or an us the the teachers against administration. I was a teacher. I I know what you're speaking of. We want to be able to have um a

195what is fair. We also are dealing with some other variables that impact our ability to to move the way in which we would like to. So even in this discourse and I think discourse and I've said this several times discourse is always okay when it devolves to disrespectful conversation where we cannot listen to one another. That is not helpful for our district. That's not helpful for our staff. That is not helpful for our relationships. And it's certainly not helpful for our children. And so my hope is that as we continue to walk down this path that we can remind one another the humanity that we all have because we all have humanity. >> Thank you. >> Hey board member comments starting with Trusty Moreno. >> Um just want to thank everyone uh colleagues uh everyone

196in the crowd tonight who showed up. Uh you the one of my favorite moments of tonight outside of all of the really great comments was uh how organized y'all were. Y'all were like clapping and doing the most teacher moment ever uh to you know quiet down and I know the vibe from last week. So the vibe for today is so much different. So I really appreciate all the additional conversations I know my colleagues had. I know you all had to kind of prepare uh to create a space that was a little bit different. That energy was a little bit different. So, I really appreciate that additional uh y'all we we all heard each other. Uh so, I'm really really grateful for that. Uh I'm also really grateful to spend time with uh my colleague uh

197Ari. Uh we were at a conference last week uh while trying to have conversations with each of you and uh with folks in the crowd and I really appreciated just kind of getting to know you differently. I I knew we had a relationship before, but I just feel so uh lucky to get to know you a little bit differently and I can't wait to share uh the our learnings uh with our colleagues and our work session. Oh, maybe some of that too. I don't know. Um yeah. Yeah, I do miss I I am a little bummed. Um and I look forward how we build a deeper culture uh with our crowd, with each other to allow our uh scholars to be back with us. Uh definitely a missed voice. I appreciate the young folks who

198were here today to speak their piece. Um, but not having uh our board scholars here um made me a little sad today. >> Trusty Rodriguez. >> Yeah. Um, so it's been a long day. I'm tired and I apologize. um not as peppy as I could be, but um so the first thing I want to start off by saying is so yeah, last week Monday um you know I personally didn't hear some things that were then later shared with me. But one thing that I want to just get like straight with everyone is there's no place for racism. There's no place for threatening language in this work. And so I just want to get that just straight. Um that being said, that I mean that's a whole different issue than teachers advocating for for better pay.

199And I hope we all recognize that. Um but uh secondly is, you know, I agree with someone that said, you know, we're telling you what to do, so listen and then do it. And you know, just a small way that I did it today is we got multiple emails about people being on their phones, people being on their laptops. So, I did put my laptop away and I wrote all these notes. I got all these notes with pen and paper because Thank you. Um, you know, I'm I'm I'm trying to be intentional, right? And so sometimes it takes that little step of, okay, we heard, right? And we all all our board colleagues got that same email and I even said, "Hey, maybe we should have one person document notes, whatever, right?" And I understand

200folks are comfortable with their own technology, their own thing that they do. Um, but that's just one way that I want to show that I I'm I'm trying to listen. Um, finally, um, I mean, I have so much stuff that I wrote down that I wanted to say, but I think we're all just tired and I just want to keep it short, but I I really don't think that our educators, any of our employees should work have to work a second job. Maybe if you want to make some extra money, sure, go work a side hustle, but that shouldn't be a requirement to pay your bills and to keep surviving out here. And education is already wildly uh inequitable in so many ways, right? The pay, the expectations, um I wrote down how many ways

201it's inequitable, but I don't have to share all that, right? The funding, we all see how it's being held up at the state level. And so, while there are inequities that exist in our funding and everything that I just mentioned, we still have to do more with what we've got. And that includes paying our teachers more. And so, I'm in support of that. I always have been. Um, and I'm going to just continue to um, make what we have work. And I hope I mean, I want to say I hope, but I actually I know that a lot of our colleagues and you don't see all of the conversations that happen behind the scenes because we just can't speak about that in public, right? I wish, you know, I don't wish we could because not

202not everyone wants their business out there, but um, just know that there's a lot of folks advocating for teachers um, more than you know. VP Wade. I wrote down notes too, Jose. Um, >> good job. >> Thank you everybody for coming out tonight. Um, I sat here and we have sat here many um, meetings and have heard hundreds of minutes of public comment. And tonight I heard put instruction first, 180 vacancies. I heard special education, teacher shortage. I heard there's a band in choir festival. Radical change. I heard teachers left for 19% raises. Teacher retention must be our highest priority. I heard teachers are trained and prepared to leave and are leaving our district. I heard about trauma bonding. I heard about bonding o over the hard work. I heard invest in kids invest in

203kids ballot initiatives losing students. I heard pray for our schools. And I heard that the hardest working teachers in West Michigan are in GRPS. You are not a broken record. You are educators who want more, who want better, and you deserve that. I totally believe that. I also want to remind our community that we have a fiscal responsibility. Our oath and our job is to be fiscally responsible for over this district and we take that very seriously. Every sentence in our moral imperative statement begins with every scholar. This means we have a fiscal and moral responsibility to make decisions that impact every scholar. This also means that that includes prioritizing many of the things we heard here tonight. This is hard work. It's hard work. And I know that this board has come forth to

204do the hard and hard work. Um that's it. Thank you, >> Trusty Williams. >> No comment. >> Trusty Williamson. >> Thank you. I don't normally make comment, but tonight I do. We are in a trust deficit. Some staff members and families do not trust the district. Some administrators do not trust schoolboard members. Everyone else, including our students, are left wondering what happens and what is happening. When people do not know what is happening or what to believe, fear pervades. Fear for their livelihoods, fear for their children. If we are to fix this trust deficit, we must take we must all take a step towards each other. We all have a responsibility to do more. We cannot wait for the other person to trust us first. This is my responsibility as a school board member. I

205was entrusted by the public to do this work on your behalf. And I recognize I cannot wait for others to step towards me. I must have grace and understand that not every error is a sign of bad intent or corruption. I must understand that others may not have all the information and it is my responsibility to share the plan and the process and the progress we are making. I must understand that this is mutual. That just as I ask for trust, I must reciprocate that trust. Public education is the cornerstone of democracy. There is an implicit promise to every child that walks through the doors of our schools that they are welcome to participate in the life of our community. That no matter who they are or where they come from, what they have, they

206all have the right to learn and grow and be loved like every other child. That is a big promise. But I truly believe that everyone here believes in that promise. We have heard last week and here tonight from teachers about what they need and expect from their next contract. I know they believe in that promise, too. That is why they come here in common. And I am thankful for all those teachers, the overwhelming majority who recognize we cannot even begin to work towards that promise until we all restore trust together. We, all of us who live and work in the city are in the inheritors of circumstance in a school district with challenges that are not new. There were good and bad decisions made by imperfect people trying to respond as best they could to

207the circumstances they were faced with, just as we are doing now. Recognizing this history, we cannot resign ourselves to it. We cannot accept that we must continue on the same course with the same thinking just because that's the way it's always been. We cannot be trapped by this history and spend valuable time releitigating it. But we must also recognize that the this history cannot be ignored. There are profound changes needed to ensure that GRPS lives up to the promise of public education. We must find a way to pay educators more while also finding a way to realign other district operations and reduce other costs. We must find a way to reduce overhead costs for a district that is not the same size it was 30 years ago. We must have more explanation and education for

208the general public as we navigate these changes. Yet, these changes do not happen overnight. These changes take time. Last week's meeting reflects this growing trust deficit. We cannot achieve any of these things we want until public trust is restored. Tonight represents growth. Let us continue stepping towards each other to renew that trust. Thank you, >> Trusty Davis. >> Yeah, I want to say thank you to all of the board um for the work and effort that you put in. I want to thank the public for coming out and making this comment. Um, and I just want to challenge us as we continue to do our work to make sure that more of it is visible and that the community can feel the momentum that I feel like we're trying to create. >> Trustee Kilpatrick, >>

209no comments. >> Trustee Melton. >> Yeah, I do just have a quick comment. Um, and it's the comment time is always such a strange thing because we're in public, but we're also talking to each other. So, I just want to make this comment specifically to my um fellow trustees. Um we have this tension that's really difficult in that, you know, we've heard these wonderful things about our district and I can attest myself. I my own son called me today from college and is so excited. He's in a um oh man, I can't remember the type of physics. It's this really high level physics class and he's just thriving. And a lot of that is attributed to Shant Hills and to museum school. And we've heard about how amazing staff is and how coveted they are

210by other districts. And I've seen that in action. But I also came into this district 25 years ago and there was already a disconnect between what was happening in the classroom and what was needed in the classroom. And so that disconnect continues to this day. I had a neighbor bring over um an advertisement she found in her basement from 20 years ago. I shared this with um Miss Williams and it was asking 20 years ago it was a fundraiser asking for money from our city to help clean and upgrade our facilities and we're here still struggling with facilities and facilities that are fair for all kids. So this tension between the wonderfulness that is our district, the park visits and all the things we heard about today and the fact that we have not responded

211to the needs of our community in decades. So what our charge is is, you know, we've looked for the last nine months at why we don't have enough funds really to to pay our teachers as much as they're worth, which is even more than they're asking for because we have this string pile and when we pull one end, it yanks the other. And we know now from looking at audits and outside observers and the budget itself and rethinking the budget, we know there's no hidden pile of string in our current system. So like many of you just mentioned that means our system has to be re-evaluated and so that is our job not the operations which a lot of people think is our job it's not but the governance the direction that we set has

212to be done now because the way we're going is not sustainable and we're proving it year after year. So, I would just say to my board, rather than getting lost in the minutia of all of the things that, you know, the budgets coming up again and the all the things that happened month after month, we have to pause and rethink the system or we're going to be in the same place as we were 25 years ago and as we are today. So, >> I agree. >> Okay. Meeting adjourned. Thank you.