GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Grand Rapids school board meeting Monday night welcomed a larger crowd and had increased security as tensions over teacher pay continued, with the board president threatening to involve law enforcement if order wasn't maintained.
The meeting served as a continuation of last week's board session, which had to be recessed due to insufficient space to accommodate the growing crowds of teachers and community members.
The board President addressed what she called the "chaotic and degrading" dysfunction from the previous meeting, citing incidents of bullying and demanding more order from the packed audience.
Monday night saw a noticeable increase in district security presence alongside the larger crowd. The board meetings have been moved away from the administration building to accommodate the growing number of teachers and community members fighting for what they call competitive pay to attract and retain qualified teachers.
Four weeks into the school year, the Grand Rapids Education Association continues to reject the district's salary proposal, as the dispute centers on ensuring every child has a qualified teacher by addressing current vacancies through competitive compensation.
"We believe that it's not fair for us to make a deal or settle for something until we know that the salaries they are offering are going to be competitive," said Tim Russ of the Michigan Education Association. "If we take the money that they're offering, we know that in the one year of the deal, they'll fall farther behind the rest of the county, and that's their competition, the rest of the county."
Prior to the start of the 2025-26 school year, the district offered teachers represented by the GREA an average salary increase of 4.5%, an additional $4 million dollar investment.
Per the latest data from the Michigan Department of Education, GRPS ranks last in the county in terms of average teacher pay.
The GREA claims the proposed 4.5% increase would still put teacher salaries for the current school year "near the bottom, if not at the bottom" in the county.
The district claims its latest proposal raises first-year teacher salaries to 10% above the statewide average.
"We want to reach a deal with the GREA and we want to continue our recruitment and retention efforts that have cut the number of teacher vacancies in about half over the last year," said Luke Stier, GRPS spokesperson. "We want to pay our educators, and we also have to be fiscally responsible, and so that is the area that we're navigating right now."
The closed session Monday night lasted about an hour and a half for the board to receive an update from their attorneys on the latest negotiations with the GREA.
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