Tarry Hall Roller Rink Letter

Dear Parent or Guardian:

I am sure that many of you have either seen or heard about the recent homecoming dance held by Tarry Hall here in Grandville and the response it received as being an exclusive event for some school districts but not for others. We received responses from parents and community members as Tarry Hall is a place that several of our school parent-teacher organizations use for events, mainly skating celebrations.

One of the important traits we strive to model for our students is to “seek to understand.”  It is very easy to watch a news story and believe we know what happened without having the full story. It is always best, when possible, to have conversation with the people involved. That is certainly what we did in this situation.

It is important for us to ensure that places where we send our students are welcoming to all. After discussing what took place and the plans to move forward with the owners of Tarry Hall and the Superintendent of our neighboring school district, I am convinced that this was a situation where the intent of what Tarry Hall was trying to do created an unintentional impact that was unfortunate and hurtful. Both have agreed to discuss and work to move forward. Tarry Hall ownership has assured me that they are welcoming and will continue to be welcoming to all students and districts in the future.

We are supportive of our students continuing to attend skating events and dances at Tarry Hall. We are thankful for their partnership in creating enjoyable experiences for our scholars. We are also supportive of our school district friends next door. We embrace the importance of all of our kids being able to have opportunities to experience events together.