Challengers oust 2 on GRPS board

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Challengers ousted two incumbents on the Grand Rapids school board Monday night.

Former Grand Rapids Public Schools teacher and administrator Maureen Quinn Slade topped the field of five candidates, receiving support from 36 percent of voters after all precincts were counted.

Fellow challenger Jon O'Connor, a neighborhood association leader and real estate appraiser, finished in second with 25 percent.

Slade and O'Connor, who were the two candidates endorsed by the teachers union, will take seats on the board effective July 1.

The two will replace third-term board member Amy McGlynn, who took 20 percent of the vote, and first-term member Harry Campbell, who won support from 10 percent of voters.

Another challenger, Roger McClary, finished with 9 percent support.

O'Connor told 24 Hour News 8 his victory "feels great. I'm happy and excited. There's a lot of work to do, but I think I'm up to the challenge."

Priority number one, he said, will be communication. O'Connor said the district's plan for more online and blended instruction -- a mix of traditional and online -- has been a bit of a "moving target. It's changed week to week here, from board meeting to board meeting."

The board member-elect said he wanted to get a look at the district's proposed budget.

But O'Connor and Slade, who has also questioned the proposals for more online and blended classes in GRPS, will not likely have a vote on the 2010-11 budget, which, according to state law, must be passed before the two take office.

Campbell and McGlynn will, in all likelihood, vote on the budget. Both have been largely supportive of the changes, though Campbell has said he has some concerns.

Asked by 24 Hour News 8 what she thought happened in the race, McGlynn, who has served on the board since 2000, said she thought people were not ready for change.

"I think that's the biggest thing," she told 24 Hour News 8. "The unfortunate problem is that change is going to happen anyway. There is no money to run the program that they've had. And with the new reports coming out on the level of failures in the high schools, there will have to be change. It will be mandated. Change will happen."

McGlynn said she hoped to stay involved in education, possibly by serving as a tutor in the schools.