A former school board candidate, state revenue operations manager and early learning advocate will help decide how the Salem-Keizer School District will spend hundreds of millions of dollars next school year.

After multiple rounds of voting, the Salem-Keizer School Board on Tuesday selected three people to serve on the budget committee:

• Kelley Strawn, an associate dean of institutional research at Willamette University who ran unsuccessfully for school board in 2023 against Satya Chandragiri
• Lisa Harnisch, executive director of the Marion Polk Early Learning Hub, who has served one term on the budget committee previously
• Kathryn Jones, a manager at the state Department of Revenue and former grants director for the state Early Learning Division

Budget committee members are unpaid volunteers who serve three-year terms.

Original story below:

The Salem-Keizer School Board will select three new budget committee members at its first in-person meeting in months.

The board meets Tuesday, Oct. 10, at 6 p.m. at the Student Services Support Center, 2575 Commercial Street S.E. It will be the board’s first meeting open for members of the public to attend in-person since Superintendent Andrea Castañeda took the district’s top job July 1, and since two new school board members were seated.

Meetings have been held virtually over the summer due to delayed construction at the student services center, where the boardroom is located.

Read it: AGENDA

Members of the public may sign up in advance to provide written, in-person or virtual public comment. Public comment sign-ups close at 3 p.m. the Monday before the meeting.

The meeting will be streamed on CC:Media, channel 21, and on YouTube at the links below.

The board will appoint three community volunteers to serve on the district’s budget committee, which consists of seven community members plus the seven elected school board directors.

Budget committee members serve three-year terms and are responsible for reviewing a draft budget proposed by district leaders, making changes and ultimately recommending a budget to the school board for approval.

Nine people have applied to serve on the budget committee, according to the board agenda packet. They are:

• Ricky Falardeau, a parent of two students with experience in nonprofit operations and budget management
• Alison Fisher, a parent of a current student and Salem-Keizer graduate and a chemistry professor at Willamette University
• Phillip Gerstner, president of Lighthouse Financial Enterprises and a certified public accountant
• Lisa Harnisch, executive director of the Marion Polk Early Learning Hub, who has served one term on the budget committee previously
• Erica Hedberg, director of government programs at Moda Health and parent of a district student
• Jean Jitan, a property tax analyst for the state Department of Revenue
• Kathryn Jones, a manager at the state Department of Revenue and former grants director for the state Early Learning Division
• Alex Sosa Navarro, a recent Salem-Keizer graduate and youth organizer with Latinos Unidos Siempre
• Kelley Strawn, an associate dean of institutional research at Willamette University who ran unsuccessfully for school board in 2023 against Satya Chandragiri

The board will also hear a report from the superintendent, and consider proclamations for Hispanic Heritage Month and Hands & Words Are Not For Hurting week.

Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.

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