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October 31, 2025
GLPS Families,
Happy Halloween to those who celebrate! As the calendar rolls over to November tomorrow (which is hard to believe), I wanted to start my message today by providing some resources for food assistance, based on inquiries we have received from families and community members. If your family needs support with food, here are a few sources of assistance:
We are pleased that we are able to offer a free breakfast and lunch to our students during the week, but we know that weekend hunger is an issue for some of our families, so we hope the resources above are helpful.
For the rest of my message this week, I want to shift our focus to GLPS facilities. At our board meeting on Monday, the GLPS Board of Education went through the process outlined in policy 7250 to name the new track and field complex and the baseball stadium. We are pleased to announce that the track and field complex has been renamed the Brandt/Spalsbury Track and Field Complex after coaches/teachers Jim Brandt and Kim Spalsbury, and that the baseball stadium has been renamed Patrick O’Keefe Stadium (the field is still Gorman Memorial Field, so it is now Gorman Memorial Field at Patrick O’Keefe Stadium) after coach/teacher Pat O’Keefe. All three of these coaches have had a positive impact on generations of Grand Ledge kids, and there is no more fitting tribute than to name these facilities after them. We will be adding signs in the coming months, but in the meantime, the two naming resolutions can be viewed here, and they contain information about the coaches’ careers and impacts.
Over the last couple of months, we have also started the process of looking at all of our facilities through the lens of current and future needs. As good stewards of the community’s resources, we have developed a facilities management plan, as well as an overall vision for continued facility upkeep and enhancements, as outlined in this presentation we shared with the Board of Education in August and October. These slides show the projects that we have completed and are continuing to complete with the current bond funds, and they lay out current and future needs that can be addressed with sinking fund, general fund, and capital fund dollars, as well as potential future dollars. To help us plan next steps, we have actually sent out an RFP for architect and construction manager support. This will allow us to prioritize projects and maximize resources as we strive to maintain the wonderful new facilities that we built with the current bond project, update facilities that have not yet received attention, and plan for the future.
As we head into the weekend, I want to thank you for your support and for giving us the opportunity to work with you and your children every day. GLPS is a wonderful place to learn and grow, and we are proud of all our district has to offer. Thank you for all you do to help us live up to our mission, vision, and beliefs; as always, I am #proudtobeacomet!
Dr. Bill Barnes
Superintendent of Schools
