While the Grand Rapids Public Schools Board of Education deals with personnel disputes, independent state assessments reveal steep declines in student proficiency since the last full pre-pandemic year, lagging behind the rest of the state.
According to the Education Recovery Scorecard, GRPS students in grades 3–8 fell further behind national averages between 2019 and 2024.
In math, the district dropped from 2.35 grade levels behind the 2019 national average to 3.13 grade levels behind—a loss of nearly a full grade level. In reading, the gap widened from 1.86 to 2.97 grade levels behind.
Third-grade proficiency, a pivotal benchmark for education metrics, further illustrates the trend: In 2019, 28.2% of GRPS third graders were proficient or advanced in reading and 26.8% in math. By 2025, those figures had fallen to 19.5% and 19.6% respectively—both approximately half of the Michigan statewide averages, which stand at 38.9% proficiency in reading and 42.7% proficiency in math.
Meanwhile, enrollment has also dropped sharply, from over 15,000 students in 2019 to around 13,800 in recent years—a decline of nearly 11%.
“Enrollment at GRPS has steadily declined in recent history,” a GRPS publication says. “District leaders cite the declining birth rate, a lack of affordable housing for young families, increased offerings from charter and private schools, and the growth of suburban schools as some of the reasons for the trend.”
As GRPS struggles to at least return to pre-pandemic educational quality and student population, the organization’s efforts have been stifled by internal administrative disputes, some of which have come to a head in recent months.
Ahead of an April 27 meeting, for instance, GRPS Superintendent Dr. Leadriane Roby recommended that the board not renew contracts for two top-level administrators who had been placed on paid administrative leave earlier this year. The contracts in question were for Deputy Superintendent Dr. Brandy Lovelady Mitchell and administrator Bridget Cheney.
Roby made the recommendation on account of workplace environment difficulties, unsuccessful improvement plans, and other ongoing concerns about job performance.
Those concerns reportedly stemmed in part from a 2024 investigation and issues related to management style and workplace culture. Roby recommended the termination of Lovelady Mitchell, in particular.
“Despite these multiple levels of coaching,” Roby wrote, “Dr. Lovelady Mitchell’s behavior has not improved. Accordingly, I have concluded that it is in the best interest of GRPS to move forward with termination.”
Both administrators were placed on paid leave in March.
According to the meeting minutes, Cheney was joined at the meeting by her attorney. The two argued that the district “had not supplied sufficient information about the allegations,” and therefore hindered Cheney’s ability to respond to charges.
They claimed that “no evidence of unprofessional or inappropriate behavior” had been presented, and that she was placed on administrative leave “without clear justification,” making “any non-renewal decision premature and potentially arbitrary.”
The board ultimately voted 5-4 in each instance against the superintendent’s nonrenewal recommendation, resulting in both administrators remaining on paid administrative leave for the time being. Both, as a result, are tentatively set to return for the 2026-27 school year.
The minutes also state that Board President José Rodriguez expressed concern about the treatment the “legacy media” has given GRPS about this issue and others, emphasizing how “Grand Rapids Public schools is painted and intentionally under attack” when stories about the organization’s struggles are published.
“What is spread about staff, schools, the superintendent, the board hurst [sic] the district,” the minutes read.
Footage of the April 27 meeting was not posted on the GRPS’s YouTube page, though all other meetings of the full board can be found on the site.
Write to jacob@grherald.com.