GRAND RAPIDS — Diana Wallace drives away from the neighborhood she loves and the elementary school she wishes her first grade son could attend, passing multiple other schools before arriving at one 20 minutes away.
Criss-crossing Grand Rapids is the new normal for Wallace and other parents as they deal with the consequences of a plan by the city’s school district to close nine public school buildings and make overdue renovations to others.
“We would love to be able to walk to school and know the children in our neighborhood,” said Wallace, who is running for school board this November out of concerns with the plan. “We are seriously down a bad path (with this plan).”…