GRPS warns of cuts or deficits if student-loss isn't stopped

There would be less student losses if Michigan's economy would pick up - families are finding jobs in other states. GRPS also needs more specialized classes for special-needs kids - like my 2 nephews who are both ADHD.

Go figure the Union thinks this is a scam to force a contract. Wake the hell up do you think they are closing schools for fun?? No they don't have enough students. This is not a major corporation trying to make a profit.

With the amount of violence and the generally weak education offered by GRPS I will never allow my son there. Bernard Taylor is an ineffective leader and has done nothing positive (that I have heard of) since he was hired. Those schools are the breeding grounds of the next generation of criminals that we will be reading about on here in a few years. I would say close GRPS down but then the trash will just move to decent schools and drag them down. Much in the same way the inner city trash has been moving outward and destroying the previously positive neighborhoods.

I don't think you have to ask tough questions because the answers are pretty easy. All you have to do is look back 40 years when GRPS was a great school system and then come forward and look at the changes that been made to the system. Discipline is gone from the schools. Control of the classroom has been taken away from the teachers. There is no respect shown by the students. There are too many students running the halls that never got their butt spanked at home and they think they are the ones in charge. And then there is bussing. There is a bad idea that hasn't worked since is inception
Parents are moving and pulling their kids to get away from the riff raff. There are too many good school districts around Grand Rapids to put up with the crap within GRPS.
GRPS could really learn from the suburban districts because that is where the parents are enrolling their kids.
If GRPS isn't willing to pull their heads out of the sand and face the issues head on and forget this PC crap, then they might as well sell some building and scale way back because they are never going to stem the tide of student loss.

A Concerned Parent wrote:

I don't think you have to ask tough questions because the answers are pretty easy. All you have to do is look back 40 years when GRPS was a great school system and then come forward and look at the changes that been made to the system. Discipline is gone from the schools. Control of the classroom has been taken away from the teachers. There is no respect shown by the students. There are too many students running the halls that never got their butt spanked at home and they think they are the ones in charge. And then there is bussing. There is a bad idea that hasn't worked since is inception
Parents are moving and pulling their kids to get away from the riff raff. There are too many good school districts around Grand Rapids to put up with the crap within GRPS.
GRPS could really learn from the suburban districts because that is where the parents are enrolling their kids.
If GRPS isn't willing to pull their heads out of the sand and face the issues head on and forget this PC crap, then they might as well sell some building and scale way back because they are never going to stem the tide of student loss.

You have touched on most of it. Lets be clear it starts @ home & any chance a parent has to go and help @ school is the way to go.

My son will be starting Kindergarden this fall and it will not be in the GRPS. A parent who cares will make sure their child gets the best education possible and by the numbers that is not in the GRPS as they have one of the lowest ratings educationally and a really high drop out rate. Bernard Taylor has alot of problems to fix, the first being his inability to realize what those problems are. I also strongly agree with the comments posted by A Concerned Parent. You hit the bullseye with that one!

at least all of the future thugs and kids who cant speak english havent left yet.
i guess its time to work with the student material that you seem to prefer and cater to.
anyone who give's a damn about their kid and their kids education are the ones who have left and are leaving.
oh, and lets not forget that the parents of the children who actually want to work and to have a decent job are also leaving michigan in droves for the other 49 greener pastures.
this might sound a bit jaded and biased, but alot of times the "truth" does.

It's a sinking ship. Too many GRPS kids are uncontrollable and their parents don't care. Teachers are afraid of them. The best solution would be to dissolve the GRPS district and distribute the students among the outlying districts. Then hold the students and their parents accountable and let the chips fall where they may.

Grand Rapids Public schools enrollment is dropping because so many of the out of district schools have so many school of choice openings. Too many I believe!

yes and the children of the parents who don't care , are ending up in our good schools causing problems!!

I find it curious that it took this long for the schools to start getting interested in hearing what the community has to say. Maybe this would be a situation if the community had been listened to a long time ago.

It seems to me we should be concerned about educating all kids, especially those that don't have a good foundation at home. The quickness to throw away kids, calling them "trash" and "riff raff" is appalling. White flight ruined Detroit and now the same patterns of fear and ignorance are taking over GRPS. shame.

If a school district tries to take action against a child who is out of control they will be threatened with a law suit. It will be all over the news and "the community" will be outraged! The schools have all the responsibility and no authority. My children follow rules and I know it’s frustrating to them when others do not. I say, if your child is not doing what he/she is supposed to do, the school should automatically call the parent/guardian to come and get them. If this happens enough times, maybe the parent will get fed up and start making consequences at home. They can trash their own house not the school. You can not sacrifice the good of the whole for a few individuals.

time to relocate

A Concerned Parent wrote:

I don't think you have to ask tough questions because the answers are pretty easy. All you have to do is look back 40 years when GRPS was a great school system and then come forward and look at the changes that been made to the system. Discipline is gone from the schools. Control of the classroom has been taken away from the teachers. There is no respect shown by the students. There are too many students running the halls that never got their butt spanked at home and they think they are the ones in charge. And then there is bussing. There is a bad idea that hasn't worked since is inception
Parents are moving and pulling their kids to get away from the riff raff. There are too many good school districts around Grand Rapids to put up with the crap within GRPS.
GRPS could really learn from the suburban districts because that is where the parents are enrolling their kids.
If GRPS isn't willing to pull their heads out of the sand and face the issues head on and forget this PC crap, then they might as well sell some building and scale way back because they are never going to stem the tide of student loss.

Couldn't have said it better, except for the fact that the reason many families are moving, is not that they are moving out of the area, they are moving out of the state, following the jobs that have left the state. Granholm has done little or nothing to stem the tide of this, and people need to be able to make enough money to live on. Its getting harder and harder with all her tax increases. So the business's leave, and the people follow.

Kinda foolish for GRPS to ask people to come back to their schools, when the people aren't even in Michigan.

meatloaf wrote:

time to relocate

Hey Meatloaf, its BEEN time to relocat. And if many more of us had the funds to do so, Michigan would be a memory and not a nightmare that it is now.

Are the illegals leaving?

Mike wrote:

With the amount of violence and the generally weak education offered by GRPS I will never allow my son there. Bernard Taylor is an ineffective leader and has done nothing positive (that I have heard of) since he was hired. Those schools are the breeding grounds of the next generation of criminals that we will be reading about on here in a few years. I would say close GRPS down but then the trash will just move to decent schools and drag them down. Much in the same way the inner city trash has been moving outward and destroying the previously positive neighborhoods.

Guy get a grip! Your suburbs or wherever you live is just as bad if not worse. Kids nowadays are totally different from your time and my own. Safety is a very minor problem in the GRPS district. Wanting a better education is one thing but if you think that putting your children in another district is going to protect them from "violence" you got another thought coming. Now you have drugs, bomb scares etc. I tend to believe like others many families are leaving Michigan period. And some just choose not to go being they are of age to make those choices. Also others move their children out of the district solely for a "better opportunity".

One man one vote wrote:

<quoted text>
You have touched on most of it. Lets be clear it starts @ home & any chance a parent has to go and help @ school is the way to go.

Agreed!

We are caught up in this with our 5 year old son. We desperately want him to go to a better school than GRP but because of the housing market etc, we are not in a position to move into a better district. We opted for Section 6 release last year and had 4 months of numerous fights with GR to release him. Now, we have applied for School of choice but, it doesn't seem like that will happen, based on this story and our fight from last year.

We toured our local Elementart school and, the children there were just so incredibly unruly and disrespectful. We chatted to the Kindergarten teacher who seemed so very nice and our son immediately gravitated towards her, which encouraged us but, the demeanor of the other kids sure was off-putting. The district really doesn't seem to be doing anything to help themselves and, when we were at their main office for one of our meetings last year, we actually saw a flyer in their lobby letting parents know that over 70%, yes, 70% of GRPS students cannot read or write to their grade level and, they were giving information on a private tutoring company that will help your child out! Why not spend the time and resources in trying to rectify that!!!

We want what's best for our son and at this point in time, GRPS is certainly not it!!!