Grand Rapids Public Schools

The Grand Rapids Public Schools is a public education school system serving Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) is Michigan's fifth-largest public school district. It is also the third-largest employer in the City of Grand Rapids. GRPS serves nearly 17,000 students with 2,700 employees, including 1,400 teachers. The student population represents 55 countries with 54 different languages spoken, creating a diverse educational experience.

Grand Rapids Public Schools was created in 1871, when the state legislature passed an act creating the Board of Education of the City of Grand Rapids. According to the act, the boundaries of the district were the same as the boundaries of the City of Grand Rapids. Prior to that time, the City of Grand Rapids had not established one single school district. Rather, the west side was known as the Union School District and the east side of the Grand River was served by two other districts.

In the days following 1871, the matters of the public schools and the matters of the city were much more intertwined than they are today since the school board's budget had to be submitted to the city for approval. In that time, when city boundaries were expanded, school boundaries expanded as well. The Constitution of 1908 prohibited special and local acts, so the city was expanded through annexation until the 1920s when the codified school law became more distinct. In 1962, the law stating that the boundaries for the city and the school district must be the same was repealed. Since then, enlargement of the city has not resulted in the expansion of the boundaries within the Grand Rapids Public Schools school district.

The relationship between GRPS and the city is very different than it was one hundred years ago. The city no longer has any control over the school budget, the district's bonding powers, or its borrowing powers. Currently, the city's basic responsibility is to conduct school elections and to collect school tax after the school board has determined how much tax should be levied. The legislature has continued to require that cities and schools operate separately.

Prior to May 1906, the board of education had twenty-five members. Two of these members were elected from each of the twelve wards of the city, and the Mayor of Grand Rapids served as an ex-officio member. The election process was responsible for the poor location of many schools in Grand Rapids. Many schools were located according to a specific ward, rather than according to the needs of the city. In May 1906, the membership of the board was decreased to nine. Each member is now elected by the residents of the city as a whole and serves on the board for a three-year term.

Originally, the board occupied space on the first floor of City Hall, but by 1915 had complete use of the fourth floor of the building. Additional offices were located in the old North Division School at 234 North Division Avenue and the old Junior College Building on Ransom Avenue. The maintenance department was located at 425 West Pleasant Street in the former Pleasant Street School. In June 1920, the Board moved all its offices to the fifth floor of a new addition to the George A. Davis Vocational and Technical High School. This building later transitioned into the West Junior College Building. The new addition was specifically designed to hold these offices. One important factor in construction of the administrative offices was a 1927 City Commission imposed rental fee of $5,000 per year for the use of the space in City Hall. Prior to this time, the space had been rent free. However, the main factor for construction was increased efficiency and a desire to have all administrative personnel at one location.

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