GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Public School District is moving forward with a plan to close some schools. It comes after feedback from thousands of parents and community members over the last few months.
It'll be several months until the district announces any closures as part of their Facilities Master Plan.
In a meeting Monday night, the board laid out the next steps after months of community engagement sessions about the plan.
The district has seen a steady decline in enrollment for more than 10 years, dropping 26% in students enrolled since 2008. The number of buildings being used in the district is about 53 percent, which is below the state's recommended 85 percent.
By the summer of 2023, the district plans to announce what schools they think should close.
"I want to make sure that I acknowledge this has not been something we've taken lightly," Superintendent Dr. Leadrine Roby says. "We really have tried to be very intentional, and then also take a broad swath across our community. We've held approximately 40 different meetings, when you include lunch and learns and town halls. Many of our board members, all of our board members have attended at least one or more of those sessions."
The district says they plan to keep up community engagement through their planning.
At Monday night's meeting, the board says they plan on voting to level previously vacated buildings, like Kensington Elementary School and Alexander Elementary School, to eliminate those maintenance costs.