GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Grand Rapids Public Schools moves into the last stretch of its superintendent search Monday night, when the Board of Education chooses which candidates go on as finalists to lead the district.
The vote comes at a 5:30 p.m. session on the district’s Franklin campus along MLK Jr. Street SE. Candidate names have stayed private through the early rounds and become public once finalists are chosen.
The field started wide. The district said its search firm, Ray & Associates, reached out to 2,315 people across all 50 states, and 35 finished applications. The board narrowed that list to six semifinalists on Oct. 19, then added a seventh on Oct. 21 when the state school boards association flagged a possible conflict-of-interest concern. The firm held virtual screening interviews with the group on Saturday.
On Wednesday, Oct. 28, the finalists spend the day touring schools and meeting with district groups, ending with 5 p.m. board interviews that anyone may attend inside GRPS University on Fuller Avenue NE. The interviews will also stream at live.grps.org.
The winner will follow Superintendent Leadriane Roby, who has led the district since 2020 and plans to retire on June 30, 2027. Before the search began, the district gathered input through 20 focus groups and several town halls over August and September.
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