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May 16, 2025

GLPS Families,

As I mentioned last week, I am planning to continue sharing survey results throughout my next couple of messages. However, before I do that this week, I want to call your attention to the fact that May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This month is set aside to remind everyone that mental health matters and to reduce the stigma around seeking support for mental health. Here at Grand Ledge Public Schools, we have a number of resources designed to help our students navigate mental health needs, including outstanding and well-trained counselors in every building; social work and school psychologist support in every building; Mr. Castillo, our Student Inclusion, Mental Health, and Wellness Supervisor; Ms. Roush, our Behavior and Mental Health Specialist; our facility dogs; our student support staff; and our Grand Ledge Public Schools Health Center. We greatly appreciate the supports that our people, programs, and partnerships provide, because they allow students to get the help they need to learn and grow right in their school building.

In the spirit of these resources and partnerships, this week I will highlight the belief statements that correspond with the supports I mentioned above.

Belief Statement 2 - We believe it is the role of the school district to provide support and access for all students.
How often do you see GLPS live up to this belief?

This shows that 85.3% of respondents feel that GLPS provides support and access for students on most days or every day, while 95.7% feel like we do so on at least some days. Overall, this indicates that families recognize that students are provided with support for and access to their educational programming. Individual comments that accompany these results indicate that folks see special services, support systems, and a wide range of offerings as strengths, while support for student behaviors and engagement can be improved.

Belief Statement 6 - We believe in partnerships between the family, community, and education stakeholders for the success of GLPS.
How often do you see GLPS live up to this belief?

This shows that 78.9% of families believe that these partnerships are evident every day or most days, and 92.5% of families believe they are evident at least some days. Again, this response shows that there are strong partnerships between GLPS, families, and support structures, with some work still to do. In the comments, respondents highlighted strength areas as strong district and building communication, positive relationships with staff, and multiple opportunities to engage, while areas for growth included consistency of communication across the district, limited opportunities for true parental engagement, and inefficient parent/teacher conference structures.

This information is helpful and useful to us in our planning, and highlights our strength as a district and broader school community, along with the areas in which we need to improve. Over the next two weeks, I will share the results from the other four belief statements, so stay tuned! Thank you for your support, and thank you for giving us the opportunity to work with you and your children every day. I appreciate you, and and as always, I am #proudtobeacomet!

Dr. Bill Barnes
Superintendent of Schools