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Grand Rapids Public Schools, Michigan

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Taxes P
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Budget Y
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Meetings Y
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Elected Officials Y
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Administrative Officials Y
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Contracts Y
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Audits Y
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Public records N
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Academics Y
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Background checks Y
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Transparency grading process



Grand Rapids Public Schools is a school district in Kent County, Michigan and is part of the Kent Intermediate School District.[1] It served 17,560 students for the 2010-11 school year[2] and was the 3rd largest public school district in Michigan.[1] The Mackinac Center for Public Policy has contacted Grand Rapids to post its checkbook register but there was no reply from the district. So far, GRPS does not appear to have a posted register.

Contents

Website evaluation

In 2011 Grand Rapids Public Schools earned a Sunny Award for having a perfect website transparency score.

Main article: Evaluation of Michigan school district websites

This website was reviewed on April 27, 2012.

The good

  • Phone numbers and email addresses are listed for district administration.[3]
  • Transparency reporting requirements are disclosed.[4]
  • Board of Education members are listed with contact information and term information.[5]
  • Meeting schedule, minutes, agendas, and videos are posted.[6]
  • Background-check policies are posted.[7]
  • Budget documents, including revenue information, are posted back to 2007.[8]
  • Audits are posted back to 2003.[9]
  • The Superintendent's contract and employee salaries over $100,000 are posted.[10]
  • The District's paid association dues and lobbying costs are disclosed.[4]
  • Purchasing information and current bids are posted.[11]
  • Teacher contracts are posted.[12]
  • Academic performance information is included in the district's Annual Report.[13]
  • The legislative advocacy goals are posted.[14]
  • Ad valorem tax rates on non-homestead properties are posted in the budget.[15]

The bad

  • Public records request information is not provided.
  • Property tax rates are not posted.

Public employee salaries

Main article: Grand Rapids Public Schools employee salaries

Transparency Resources

Budget

2011-12

Grand Rapids Public Schools' 2011-12 budget forecasts $205,283,723 in revenue and $210,630,518 in expenditures, which will reduce their fund balance from $14,454,748 to $9,107,953.[15]

2009-10

Grand Rapids Public Schools spent $212,734,525 in general fund expenditures in 2009-10,[16] and took in $218,703,516 in revenue.[15]

2009-10 General Fund Expenditures[16]
Personnel Expenditures Category Expenditures
Salary $103,195,116
Employee Insurance Benefits $23,627,272
FICA/Retirement/Unemployment/WC $25,410,362
Other Personnel Expenditures $2,624,792
Total Personnel Expenditures $154,857,542
Remaining Expenditures Category Expenditures
Professional and Technical Purchased Services $10,028,943
Client/Pupil Transportation Purchased Services $5,408,437
Other Purchased Services $5,558,283
Supplies and Materials $14,156,839
Capital Outlay $533,667
Other Expenditures $196,802
Payments to Other Public School Districts $16,246,643
Fund Modifications $5,747,369
Other Transactions $0
TOTAL GENERAL FUND EXPENDITURES $212,734,525

Association dues

Grand Rapids Public Schools spent 1,556,928.99 in association dues for 2009-10.[17]

Lobbying

Grand Rapids Public Schools paid M and M Governmental Consultants, LLC $4,550.00 for lobbying services.[18]

The current legislative goals include obtaining federal stimulus funds for the district and addressing health care and retirement funding difficulties.[14]

Taxes

For the operation of Grand Rapids Public Schools, total ad valorem tax rates on non-homestead property is 20.3600 mills.[15]

Voters will decide in November 2011 whether to approve a 1-mill tax increase for a GRPS sinking fund.[19]

Academic performance

Adequate Yearly Progress

In 2010-11, 16 GRPS schools did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress goals.[20]

Graduation rates

The 2010-11 graduation rate for Grand Rapids Public Schools was 48.1%.[21]

College readiness

According to the Michigan Department of Education, over 90% of GRPS students did not meet college readiness benchmarks, as assessed by the ACT test[21]:

Subject % Met or Exceeded % Did Not Meet
All Subjects 9.5% 90.5%
English 32.2% 67.8%
Reading 24.3% 75.7%
Mathematics 15.4% 84.6%
Science 11.8% 88.2%

References

  1. ↑ Kent ISD website Accessed October 26, 2011
  2. ↑ MI School Data "Student Counts," Accessed October 26, 2011
  3. ↑ Official GRPS website "Departmental Listings," Accessed April 27, 2012
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Official GRPS website "Transparency Reporting," Accessed April 27, 2012
  5. ↑ [http://grpublicschools.org/grps1/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33&Itemid=35 Official GRPS website "Board of Education," Accessed April 27, 2012
  6. ↑ Official GRPS website "Meetings," Accessed April 27, 2012
  7. ↑ Official GRPS website "GRPS Policies: Section 5000," Accessed April 27, 2012
  8. ↑ Official GRPS website "Budget Documents," Accessed April 27, 2012
  9. ↑ Official GRPS website "Financial Documents," Accessed April 27, 2012
  10. ↑ Official GRPS website "Employee Compensation Information," Accessed April 27, 2012
  11. ↑ Official GRPS website "Bid Information," Accessed April 27, 2012
  12. ↑ "GRPS website" "Current Bargaining Agreements," Accessed April 27, 2012
  13. ↑ Official GRPS website "Annual Reports," Accessed April 27, 2012
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Official GRPS website "Legislative Advocacy," Accessed October 26, 2011
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Official GRPS website "2011-12 Budget," Accessed October 26, 2011
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Official GRPS website "Personnel expenditures," Accessed October 26, 2011
  17. ↑ Official GRPS website "District Paid Association Dues," Accessed October 26, 2011
  18. ↑ Official GRPS website "District Paid Lobbying Costs," Accessed October 26, 2011
  19. ↑ The Grand Rapids Press "Campaign to pass Grand Rapids schools tax targets absentee voters, ratchet up ground game," Accessed October 26, 2011
  20. ↑ Official GRPS website "Annual Report 2010-11," Accessed October, 26, 2011
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 MI School Data "ACT and College Readiness," Accessed October 26, 2011
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