GRPS has tried closing schools before

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - In 2000, the Grand Rapids Public Schools announced it would close schools and put the money back in the classrooms. But when all was said and done, fewer than proposed actually shut their doors, and the plan changed a number of times and was eventually thrown out by a new board and new superintendent before it was completed.  

Earlier this week, GRPS Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal announced her plan to close 10 schools and reorganize others. Neal said she is not married to every single point in the plan.  

"I've submitted my best thinking and there's probably something that I've missed," said Neal. "I would like to hear from people, and then be flexible enough to say, 'You know what? You're right. I didn't consider that. Let me reconsider.'"

But she believes schools -- including a high school -- must close if the district is to succeed moving forward.  

"I think to keep this budget going the way it is, to maintain bricks and mortar, I think is the wrong thing to do and I don't want to do that," said Neal. "We have to focus on academic achievement, and the only way to do that is to shrink the district down and not spend the resources running buildings."

When asked if the district can maintain three comprehensive high schools, Neal responded with an emphatic 'no'.  
"We don't have 10,000 high schoolers. We just don't. And I think we would be doing a disservice to this community to keep going down this path," said Neal. "This isn't over night, we did it 2001, 2004, 2008. The strategic plan, the district wide review -- we've had years. This just didn't start with Teresa, we've known for how many years that we had too many high schools."

This plan is different, she said, because the stakes have never been this high, and also the final goal is not to close buildings but to improve academics.  

"I believe that this is our, we only have one chance to ring this bell," she said. "If you have children in this school system, we don't have 10 years to make this decision."

Neal said the plan to close the schools and have the board vote on it in the middle of December is an aggressive move, admittedly more aggressive than past plans where the cuts and closures were slated to happen over years.

Former GRPS board member Jim Rinck said he's been through this before. He served on the board from 1993 until 2007.  

"That's an awfully short timeline. That's a fantasy timeline. I mean, yeah, you're gonna close 10 buildings, uproot people and this and that, close some of the longest lived high schools in two months,in less than two months, I don't know about," Rinck told 24 Hour News 8 in response to Neal's plan. "But if you think people are emotionally ready for that, I've got some swampland in Florida to sell you."

GRPS leaders said they have taken public comments from the past decade into account before making this plan. They said it's not a two-month timeline.

Rinck went on to say he didn't think closing a high school in one of the city's large wards is the best way to grow the district.

"This is not -- because of the nature of the closing of the high school -- this is more than just another school consolidation plan. This goes to the heart of what Grand Rapids is going to look like in the future," said Rinck.  

"I've thought about this long and hard," said Neal. "It is the right thing to do -- I feel it in my soul. I can't sit here and do nothing. And I know people are upset with me. I've gotten really nasty notes, messages, but its the right thing to do."  

There are the public meetings scheduled to discuss the latest plan.

  Public Meeting and Vote Schedule:

November 1 – Student, Parent Community Meeting 6-7:30 p.m. at Creston
November 8 - Student, Parent Community Meeting 6-7:30 p.m. at SWCC
November 10 - Student, Parent Community Meeting 9 -10:30 a.m. at Ottawa Hills
November 15 - Student, Parent Community Meeting 6-7:30 p.m. at Union
November 16 - Student, Parent Community Meeting 4-6 p.m. at Franklin Auditorium
November 19 – Presentation of Action Plan Version 2.0 to Grand Rapids Board of Education
December 3 – Public Hearing on Action Plan during Board of Ed Meeting – 6:30 p.m. at Franklin Auditorium
December 17 – Board of Education Final Vote 6:30 p.m. at Franklin Auditorium