GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A contract agreement between Grand Rapids Public Schools and its teachers has still not been reached.
On Monday evening, those represented by the Grand Rapids Education Association, as well as students, pushed for higher teacher pay at a GRPS Board of Education meeting, spilling into the hallway and even onto the sidewalk.
"My teachers deserve a competitive wage. My teachers deserve more for their work," said a seventh grade student during the public comment.
"Some of my favorite teachers have left the system," she said. "Maybe if they were paid more, they could have stayed."
WATCH: GRPS Board of Education meeting
Ultimately, the board recessed the meeting over concerns about compliance with the Open Meetings Act, which were raised several times by people who spoke during the public comment.
"Upon the recommendation of our legal counsel, the board made the decision to recess the meeting and they will reconvene in a larger space," GRPS Director of Communications Luke Stier said to FOX 17 on Tuesday.
Stier also said, eventually, "everyone was allowed inside of the building" and added that GREA did not notify the board of a larger-than-anticipated audience for the meeting.
"We had a large turnout last night," he said. "Our message is that we are here. We are listening. We have had multiple opportunities to be able to hear from our community and we are working toward reaching a deal."
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.
"We are committed to hiring and retaining the best educators," GRPS Superintendent Dr. Leadriane Roby said in a statement at the time. "We believe this proposal is a critical step toward achieving that goal."
Grand Rapids
Contract negotiations continue between GRPS, teachers union
While it would not name a specific percentage, the Grand Rapids Education Association says it's looking for more than what was included the district's latest proposal.
"We definitely feel that's reasonable and necessary," GREA President Matt Marlow said.
Marlow says the teachers union is trying to place itself "in the middle" of what teachers are typically paid in Kent County.
Per the latest data from the Michigan Department of Education, GRPS ranks last in the county in terms of average teacher pay.
Marlow 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.
"That's cause for alarm," he said.
The latest proposal from the teachers union, GRPS claims, would cost the district an additional $10.9 million and bring its general fund balance below 5% of general fund operating revenues, which would prompt oversight from the state.
"The money exists, it's a question of priorities," Marlow said, citing pay raises for GRPS leadership and "years" of salary freezes for teachers in the district.
"I didn't realize it would take this long and it would be this difficult," he said.
GRPS and GREA are scheduled to meet twice more in September for contract negotiations. A date and location for the board meeting that recessed on Monday has not yet been announced.
"Our educators are in the classroom every day, working directly with our scholars," Stier said. "We are working every day to reach a new agreement with them, with the GREA, so we can continue to move forward."
