The petition was submitted to the board on Wednesday, May 3 with over 2000 signatures. Many thanks to all who signed. We see this overwhelming response as evidence of a healthy and engaged community— something we can all be proud of. We received the following response from the board Friday, May 5:

Dear Concerned GRCS Families,

Thank you for your continued thoughtful engagement on this. We hear your concerns and take them to heart, and we understand that this is a difficult issue for our community. The employment policy laid out in section 220 of the staff handbook continues to be the position of the GRCS Board of Trustees. The instruction and student care matters related to this are important matters for staff and community dialogue, and we are now taking steps to engage that with teachers, principals, and other staff as they implement the mission of GRCS. This dialogue will include important questions like: how can we best equip staff to adhere to this statement while freeing them to personally disagree with it? How can teachers continue to communicate, in developmentally appropriate ways, both the position of the school and the nuanced scriptural, historical, and psychological study on all sides that prepares students to be engaged wisely in the Christian community and in the world? How can we maintain student health and safety as our highest priority in a world of bullying and division? These matters are at the front of our minds in our dialogue with staff in the next few weeks, and in our continued dialogue as a board in the months ahead.

For the Board and with hope in Christ who holds us together,

Rebecca Jordan Heys