GRPS approves transformation plan

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - The Grand Rapids Public Schools Board of Education has passed a transformation plan estimated to save the district $4.5 million annually and expected to close a number of underperforming and under-capacity schools.

Version 3.0 of the plan, which was revealed Monday evening at the board meeting, was approved by a unanimous 9-0 vote and greeted with a round of applause.

== Read: Version 3.0 of the transformation plan (pdf) ==

With the passage of Version 3.0, the large Creston High School building will be the new home to City High - Middle Program, and Creston students will be offered the option to finish out their Creston experience at the Central building.

There were a handful of final public comments in the minutes leading up to the big vote. Many focused on Creston High School, with some comments coming from current Creston students themselves.

"Even though I disagree with this proposal, I don't want to say that we respect you guys," one student said.

One of the biggest changes in Version 3.0 of the plan was the removal of language specifically referencing Teach For America -- a program that brings recent college graduates into low-performing schools as teachers. Grand Rapids teachers had lobbied for that change.

"It's so nice to feel that someone is finally listening to us and treating us as professionals," one teacher said.

According to a news release from GRPS, Version 3.0 modifications include:

• Removal of Blandford School expansion under Phase II Planned Growth.
• Modification of recommendations for Union, Alger and Westwood's "Turnaround Plan" specifically removing reference to Teach for America but maintaining language about exploring the "development of a talent recruitment initiative."
• Modification to the proposed IB Arts Academy to establish it as Phase II Planned Growth with exploration of potential Phase I opportunities pending the outcome of a feasibility study.
• Modification of the Phase II Secondary/Alternative Education Study to include exploration of a strict discipline academy, with potential pilot for Phase I if feasible.

The rest of the plan remained the same as presented in Version 2.0. The plan was modified from its original form to a Version 2.0 and then 3.0 after input from parents through community meetings and feedback.

The plan is expected save GRPS $22.4 million over five years. Half of those savings will be re-invested in renovating and expanding schools. The rest will be set aside to help stabilize the district's budget.

Board president Senita Lenear said at the meeting that she doesn't agree with all of plan, but is excited to implement it.

Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal told 24 Hour News 8 Monday before that vote that she did not think GRPS could survive unless the transformation plan passed.

She said she tried to be as clear as possible about the plan before the vote.

"I've tried to provide all of the answers to all of the questions," said Weatherall Neal. "Just up until about three hours ago I had quite a few questions coming in so I wanted to be very transparent and to provide more than enough information. It was really important that we send a strong message to this community, so I knew whatever it took, I wanted a 9-0 or I would have asked to do it over again."

The head of the teachers' union said teachers are still wary about the plan as a whole -- especially because they don't yet know about how it will affect staffing.

Weatherall Neal said not only does she plan to set community group meetings in the coming weeks to get input about the future of the district, she also said we will know about staffing changes before spring.