Local students will get a long weekend after the Salem-Keizer School District canceled classes Friday due to icy road conditions and staffing shortages.
The district initially announced a two-hour delay at 5:45 a.m. Friday, then said classes would be canceled around 8:30 a.m.
District offices will remain open.
The cancelation applies to all district programs, including the online EDGE program, district spokesman Aaron Harada said.
Prior to announcing the closure, the district had 696 employees due to be out for various reasons, and 59 unfilled teaching positions, Harada said. A position is unfilled when a teacher is out and a substitute isn’t available.
That number does not include bus drivers and transportation workers, who have a different system.
Harada said he didn’t have a count of bus drivers who were out, but the number was large enough “it would have meant significant delays across the district – not just getting to school, but also getting back home,” he said in a text.
For a complete list of weather-related school closures, visit the FlashAlert website.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.
