Jim Renney: A Vote for Interests of ALL Parents and Students

A Grant native, I have lived in the Grant area nearly my entire life. I attended Grant Public Schools from Kindergarten through High School, graduated in 1994, and went on to ITT Tech for Electronics Engineering. One of my professors and I founded a company providing early online access to credit union monthly statements. I worked several years at NCRESA as part of NCATS, mentoring student workers, performing tech support, and was part of the coordination team between NCRESA and the county school districts, including Grant. I have worked as an IT contractor helping convert aging mainframe software to more modern standards. For the past twelve years, I have worked at a Muskegon-based health care organization, helping to provide medical, dental, behavioral health and other services to patients of all incomes and backgrounds. Additionally, I have volunteered for nearly twenty years with a local community theatre group, both performing with and helping with nearly every aspect of the organization, including serving on their board of directors for most of that time.

What do I stand for?

I am a strong advocate for the rights of every student in our community to receive the best education we can provide to help each student reach their own potential as an adult in the real world. Every student comes to us with their own strengths and weaknesses, and we need to do our best to meet each of their individual needs. We need to support our students by providing a safe learning environment when they can discover and grow. We need to support our teachers and support staff with honest and open lines of communication with the administration based on mutual respect, with the ultimate goal for all to support every student.

Why vote for me?

Transparency: I will work to enhance transparency and accountability within the school board, ensuring the entire public is well-informed and able to influence decisions. Over the last 2 years, the board has made many decisions with no reasonable explanations.

Freedom and Respect: I advocate for policies that ensure freedom of expression and open dialogue for everyone, not just those I happen to personally agree with. Every voice matters, and our decisions need to take into account the needs of each and every student to reach their own unique potential.

Responsibility: The board spent $21,339.26, according to the last report we received from the board, to renegotiate a virtually unchanged contract for the Child and Adolescent Health Center housed in Grant Middle School (that provides vital healthcare to a large percentage of our students). This debacle started during a regular monthly board meeting with an unannounced change to the board agenda when the board President was absent to terminate the health center contract with no legitimate discussion or feedback from the public, in response to a student-designed mural that didn’t strictly fit those members’ personal beliefs. The board chose to pay the former superintendent accused of mismanagement $143,500 (according to the Conerned Parent Coalition of Michigan website) to buy out his contract after paying the district’s law firm $26,822.41 (from the most recent reporting from the school board) for an investigation.