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Community advisory committee completes budget exercise, identifies trust and communication as top priorities
Summary
District staff reported the committee’s third session included a budgeting exercise, staff-ranked priorities (teaching and learning; staffing stability; student well-being; financial stability; class size) and recommended clearer communications and transparency; the committee declined to videotape meetings to protect candid discussion.
Superintendent Matt reported to the Grand Rapids Public Schools board that the district’s Forward community advisory committee held its third session on March 23, reviewing the group’s purpose, local data, and priorities and completing a hands-on budgeting exercise.
Staff told the board they had asked the committee to rank priorities gathered from earlier meetings; staff placed teaching and learning first, followed by staffing and retention, student well-being, financial stability and class-size concerns. "Core conditions have to be met first," Matt said, summarizing the staff view that stability and student support are prerequisites for expanded opportunities.
At the March session participants were given a fictitious district budget with $12 million in discretionary spending and a menu of program costs. Committee members debated whether to prioritize career and technical education, preserve existing programs, or build fund balance, and then confronted "reality check" scenarios — such as insurance or facility failures and legislative changes — to see how priorities shifted.
The group also discussed ways to rebuild trust, including clearer communication about district finances, regular progress updates, stronger parent–teacher relationships and improved conferences. Staff noted newsletters and multi-platform communication as high priorities; consultant Peter Leatherman’s past survey work reinforced that newsletters are an important channel for families.
Committee members asked that meetings remain off camera to encourage candid feedback; staff said that decision was deliberate but that the committee will revisit recording practices when the process is debriefed. The committee will meet again April 23 for a final session, and some members are expected to present the group’s product to the board in May or June.
The district described the Forward workshop as highly engaging and said it will use the committee’s clustered themes as the starting point for planning and public outreach.
