YOUR GOVERNMENT: School board to hear update on superintendent search
The Salem-Keizer School Board will hear an update at a Tuesday meeting on the search for the school district’s next superintendent.
Board Chair Ashley Carson Cottingham will brief the board on the search, but no action is listed on the meeting agenda.
The school board recently narrowed the list of applicants to three but has not identified them, having decided last year to keep much of the process confidential.
The board hired search firm Human Capital Enterprises to help with recruitment and vetting in September, two months after former Superintendent Christy Perry announced her retirement. The chosen candidate will start on July 1.
Board members will hear the district’s monthly monitoring report through January 2023. The data is intended to show trends including attendance, suspensions, expulsions and “sense of belonging,” which “tells us student perceptions on topics such as respect shown to student, being understood as a person, and connection to school-based adults,” according to the agenda.
Among elementary students, 61% reported a sense of belonging in fall 2022, unchanged from the previous fall and down slightly from 62% in fall 2019.
Middle and high school students reported 32% felt a sense of belonging this past fall, compared with 33% in fall 2021 and 37% in fall 2019.
Attendance among elementary students remains below 90% as of Jan. 31 and is up slightly compared to the 2021-22 school year.
Middle school attendance also remained under 90% but was mostly flat compared to last year.
High schools have recorded attendance of just over 80%, down slightly from last year.
Board members will also appoint two people to the budget committee, a 14-member group that consists of the school board and seven volunteer citizens. The committee makes recommendations to the board about the annual operating budget.
Members appointed to the committee serve three years and can apply for additional service when their term expires.
Under state law as of last July, school districts must include at least one member in their budget committee from the district’s educational equity advisory committee, or DEAC.
Each year as member terms expire, vacant positions are advertised and then appointed by the school board following an interview process during a regular school board meeting.
The applicants:
– Phillip Gerstner
– Gabe Maestas (DEAC member)
– Oscar Porras (DEAC member)
– Patrick Schwab
To participate: The meeting starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28.
The board will meet in person, but members of the public may only attend and comment virtually.
Members of the public can sign up for in-person or virtual public comment before the meeting starts until 3 p.m. Monday using the link here.
The meeting will be streamed on CC:Media, channel 21, and on YouTube at the links below.
English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU_wb5p3oPE
Spanish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKZLMyP3TI0
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered the justice system and public safety for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
