Since launching his candidacy for Grand Rapids Public Schools board in April, Robert Hovenkamp has knocked on more than 3,000 doors.
At one house, he met a father who said he had just pulled his child out of the district, when his child failed to meet third grade reading proficiency standards.
“He sat me down and said, ‘I really hope to support GRPS. I wish I could’ve kept my child in there, but these circumstances, they really needed to be able to read, to be able to advance themselves in the future,’” Hovenkamp said.
Hovenkamp is one of 15 candidates running for the district’s board of education. He has attended GRPS board meetings for the last year and has kept an eye on the district’s M-STEP results, the statewide student assessment metric, in his work.
In February, Hovenkamp was one of four finalists to interview for the trustee position vacated by Arick Davis, out of 20 applicants. The GRPS board ultimately chose Erika VanDyke, who is running unopposed for the remainder of the term.
Currently, Hovenkamp works for the state of Michigan as a data analyst, helping school districts submit and understand the data they collect. He has previously worked in data analysis for the state budget office and for the city of Wichita, Kan., as management fellow. He has a masters degree in public administration from Georgia State University.
Only about a fifth of third graders met English-Language Arts proficiency standards, and over 40% of students were chronically absent in the 2024-25 school year. The district needs to talk about these data points transparently, he said.
“We really need to look at some of the best practices, really connect with families, and ensure that we’re getting in the root causes of that chronic absenteeism,” Hovenkamp said.
His wife, who is from Grand Rapids, is a special education teacher for another district. While job hunting in the area, Hovenkamp said compensation in other districts was better. The district needs to focus on making pay competitive with other districts, as well as making sure that teachers feel supported in their work, he said.
The last union negotiations were disheartening, he said, but he was encouraged by the support he saw in the community during the process, which ended in salary raises for teachers between $2,000 and $10,000.
“I have a great appreciation for the craft of teaching from seeing the amount of care and thought and intentionality when my wife puts together lesson plans and works non-stop on helping students,” he said. “And I know that there are other people in her profession that work at GRPS that do the same, that deserve that support.”
The Grand Rapids Education Association, the teacher’s union, has endorsed Hovenkamp. Additionally, he was endorsed by Grand Rapids Mayor David LaGrand, GRPS Board Trustee Richard Williamson, County Commissioner Carol Hennessey, former GRPS Board President and County Commissioner Tony Baker, GRPS Board Trustee Amber Kilpatrick, County Commissioner Kris Pachla, Grand Rapids City Commissioner AliciaMarie Balchak, and GRPS Board Trustee Kymberlie Buczek. Prior to primary elections, he canvassed with Democratic candidates Lindsey Perez-Plescher, Khristian Silvis, and Pachla.
Hovenkamp called this a “pivotal” moment, both in improving student achievement and in making decisions which will shape the future of the district, like the choice of superintendent.
“We need to work with each other, instead of against each other, because that’s what will really bring us forward: when we find that common ground and make those tough decisions together. Because we’re going to have tough decisions that have trade offs,” he said.
His campaign has the values of growth, equity, and ownership. Growth means being committed to continuous improvement, he said, moving the needle every year on math and reading scores. Equity, he said, was ensuring student access to resources they need.
“We want to be sure that we’re collectively taking ownership of the future of this school district, taking responsibility as a whole, and accountability for the system with what we can,” he said.
Consolidating buildings will be one of these areas, Hovenkamp said. Streamlining the district’s physical footprint will allow for those monies to go to student learning.
This is part of a running series on candidates running for local office.
Write to juliana@grherald.com