GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids school board approved to extend their contract with Elevate K-12, which allows virtual teachers in the classroom, after students spoke out against it at the GRPS board meeting Monday night.
Elevate K-12 is a company that provides virtual teachers to public school classrooms.
The school board said the district's contract with the company is not meant to replace teachers inside classrooms, but fill teacher vacancies as the district struggles with the nationwide teacher shortage. Currently, GRPS has nearly 200 teacher vacancies.
The contract costs GRPS around $2.5 million for the year.
The meeting came after a gathering of Student Association for Leadership and Transformation (SALT) students met at MLK Park to march for improvements in the school system.
SALT members are high schoolers from GRPS who came together to amplify their voices and advocate for better teacher working conditions, higher wages, in-person learning with instructors and better transportation in the district.
At the meeting, students shared their disapproval of the Elevate K-12 contract with the board.
"I'm really frustrated that you approved the funding for virtual teachers. By approving this you are letting students get hurt by not having a real person in the room," said one GRPS student.
"I just want to say that having a teacher in person...just creates a nurturing relationship between a teacher and a student that could not be had within a screen," said another student. "And it was, it wouldn't be something that you could never ultimately end up fulfilling if a child's life is lost, due to them having no one to talk to."
While the board approved the contract extension, they did agree with the concerns many students shared.
"I am first and foremost concerned about not having instruction in classrooms," said one board member. "But please hear me that I am in alignment with everything that was said tonight, this is not the best solution. This is not what we want. We want a qualified teacher in the classroom."
The meeting was heated and lasted for almost four hours. Many parents, teachers and members of the community spoke during public comment.
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