A video circulating on social media over the weekend shows law enforcement officers lining up near a school bus in downtown Grand Rapids.
The Michigan Education Association posted a screen-grab of the video. The organization says it shows a Grand Rapids Public Schools school bus being used to transport more than two dozen officers ahead of an anti-racism and police brutality protest on Saturday, June 6.
"Police were seen exiting the bus on Weston St. at the corner of Commerce St. walking toward Ionia Ave," reads the post on the MEA Facebook page.
Dr. Ronald Gorman, Interim Superintendent of the Grand Rapids Public Schools, said that Dean Transportation had provided the bus to the Grand Rapids Police to use for transporting officers downtown.
“I want to address the concerns raised by parents and community members about the recent use of a Dean Transportation bus that displayed “Grand Rapids Public Schools” on the side for transporting officers downtown on Saturday," Gorman said in a statement Monday, June 8. "I respect and understand these concerns and want to be fully transparent with how this occurred as well as the action taken in response."
Gorman said GRPD contacted the district's department of public safety and security about the need for transportation on Saturday.
"Since Grand Rapids Public Schools contracts with Dean Transportation for bussing services, our Department of Public Safety and Security contacted Dean Transportation about this request. Dean Transportation agreed to provide the transportation rental at no charge to the Grand Rapids Police Department or the district," Gorman said. "Upon first learning of this situation Saturday afternoon, I directed GRPS staff to work with the Grand Rapids Police Department to arrange for alternative transportation arrangements."
Dean Transportation confirmed this statement from the school district. They said they work to "be responsive" to requests from school district partners.
"Upon an update from the Interim Superintendent Saturday afternoon, Dean worked to immediately cancel the trip and cover all charges to GRPS and the Grand Rapids Police Department for the transportation request," said a statement.
GRPD has had officers, including those with the Michigan State Police, forming barricades downtown ahead of planned protests in the last week. The protests come in the wake of the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis officer kept a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
The Grand Rapids Educators Coordinating Council, an affiliate of MEA, said in a statement that they disagree with how the buses were used.
“We disavow the use of GRPS school buses for transportation of police officers. School buses are the first thing students see on their path to learning. They should be an image of opportunity—not violence," read a statement from the council, which was posted on the MEA Facebook page.
The council is made up of six local unions that represent teachers, ancillary staff, child care workers, transportation and other employees who take part in providing for Grand Rapids Public Schools students.
Protesters have had a presence in the downtown area most days in the time since Floyd's death on May 25 as they protest anti-Black racism and police brutality. Saturday's event drew out at least a thousand people, and two more protests devolved from the original event. One of those protests addressed a line of GRPD officers outside the police department before being pushed past a barricade of Kent County Road Commission trucks.
The department has said the increased presence comes in response to the damage of buildings and police vehicles after a protest on May 30.
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