Priorities

Grand Rapids Public Schools should work for all our families

Priorities

GRPS is one of the most powerful economic institutions in Grand Rapids. It employs thousands, spends hundreds of millions in public dollars, and shapes the futures of 14,000 students. Right now, it is not working for the families who need it most — teachers are underpaid and leaving, local businesses are locked out of contracts, and the schools serving immigrant and working-class families are the first to close. This platform is about changing that from inside the board.

Supporting Student Achievement

GRPS is experiencing record graduation rates, but that isn’t enough. Our students are capable of incredible things if we challenge and push them to do it. We need to set high goals for our district and schools and invest in the support our students need to reach those goals. We should work with our educators and curriculum experts, as well as other education professionals in our community to set ambitious goals and concrete plans for reading and math. We should support the arts, sciences, humanities, and athletics along the way. Our students deserve a well-rounded education, and they are capable of achieving it if we give them the tools.
Career Training – Setting Students up for Success

The district produces talent, and that talent should have real reasons to stay local. I want to redesign CTE programs so students connect directly with local small businesses and entrepreneurship pathways, not just large employers. I’d prioritize business owners across Grand Rapids and surrounding Kent County who want to work with our youth as internship and apprenticeship partners, and deepen GRPS’s investment in programs like GRow1000, with worksite eligibility that favors these homegrown businesses.
Educator Pay, A Community Investment

Good cities come from good schools, and good schools come from good teachers. You can’t have one without the other. I believe our teachers deserve more autonomy in their classrooms, along with pay and resources that are competitive with other districts in the area. Teachers who serve this community should be able to afford to live in it. Supporting educators isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the foundation everything else in our schools is built on.
Keeping GRPS Dollars Local

GRPS is the third largest employer in Grand Rapids and is currently spending $305 million through the Reimagine GRPS bond. I want to push for formal Micro Local Business Enterprise utilization targets, public quarterly reporting on local spending, and real alignment with equitable contracting practices already being used elsewhere in the city, across construction, goods, services, and professional contracts.
Protecting Our Children & Families

Immigrant and working-class families are absorbing this disproportionately. I want to require formal displacement impact assessments before any closure vote and demand concrete continuity plans for ESL students; not just where they go, but whether the programming itself survives the transition.
Neighborhood Schools

When a neighborhood school closes, it does not just affect students, it removes an anchor that holds families in place. I want to push to scale the community schools model district-wide, embedding health, mental health, family services, and food access partnerships into every school building. I also want to formalize after-hours community use of school buildings so they serve neighborhoods, not just classrooms during the school day.