Superintendent

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January 23, 2026

GLPS Families:

It was a bit of a choppy week this week, with only two days surrounded by snow days and the planned three-day weekend, coupled with winter weather on the two days we were in school. However, we had two great days of learning, and we are hopefully looking forward to some more cooperative weather patterns next week.

I want to start by highlighting a really great representation of our music programs that is occurring today, as both our high school Wind Symphony and our 8th-grade Treble Choir were invited to perform at the Michigan Music Conference in Grand Rapids. It is an honor to have one ensemble invited to perform, but to have two, representing both instrumental and vocal music, is truly incredible, and speaks to the strength of our entire music program.

Next, I want to remind you that back in October, I referenced our Caregiver School Improvement Team (CSIT), which is an opportunity for caregivers to learn and provide feedback around our school improvement goals and professional learning. Our next CSIT meeting is Thursday, 1/29 from 6:00-8:00 at Sawdon – you are welcome to attend. In addition, I referenced that this year, we are going to randomly select caregivers to provide us additional feedback to elevate more voices across the district. So, stay tuned, as next week, we will be reaching out to a randomly selected 20 families to invite you to a conversation about the work we are doing at GLPS.

Finally, I received a couple of questions about our decision not to call a snow day yesterday, so I thought this would be a good time to call your attention to both my message from December 12th and from earlier this week that speaks to our process and protocols. I know that heavy snow and whiteout conditions between 6:45 and 8:15 am yesterday made the morning commute really challenging, and I apologize for that. Our team was on the roads between 4:00 and 5:00am, because in order for buses to run on time, we have to decide whether or not to close by 5:15am at the latest. At 5:00am, it was not snowing or windy, and while there was some drifting in the southwest corner of the district, none of our roads were impassable. According to the National Weather Service, there was a chance of less than an inch of snow by 7 am, and no more snow after that until later in the afternoon, which led to the decision to stay open. As it happens in Michigan in the winter, the forecast didn’t hold, and we ended up with a messy morning as well over an inch fell in a very short amount of time. I am very glad that our kids and families made it in safely, and we will continue to try to make the best and most timely decision possible, as we did today. I appreciate your patience and support as we navigate the Michigan weather throughout the rest of the winter.

That is all I have for this week. Stay warm today and throughout the weekend, and as always, please reach out with questions or concerns. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to work with you and your students every day. I am #proudtobeacomet!

Dr. Bill Barnes
Superintendent of Schools