Sofia Castellanos knows more about what’s going on in Salem schools than most teenagers.
The South Salem High School junior sits on the Salem-Keizer School District’s student advisory committee, a group that brings a student perspective to district leaders.
So when she and some friends realized that they had almost no information about the ongoing negotiations between the district and teacher union as district leaders make substantial budget cuts, they decided to do something about it.
“If I don’t know anything about it, chances are nobody knows anything about it,” she said, referring to her fellow students.
Castellanos and her friend Noah Mayer decided to organize an evening community forum to talk about budget cuts and bargaining. The two will give a short presentation, then allow participants to talk. A third South student, Brycen Martin, has helped plan and is managing technology for the forum.
The event will be Wednesday, Jan. 10, at South, 1910 Church St. S.E., from 6-7:30 p.m.
It’s in partnership with the Salem-Keizer Education Association, the district’s teacher union, and Castellanos said they’ll cover topics teachers have been advocating for during contract negotiations, including the district’s high rate of injuries caused by students and the importance of teacher autonomy in deciding what and how to teach students.
Their presentation is informed by conversations with teachers, including Mayer’s parents.
Castellanos said while she leans more toward the union’s point of view, she said the event isn’t meant to pick sides.
“I don’t believe there is a side that’s 100% correct,” she said.
But she said the school district has had more resources and events to share the point of view of district leaders. Her goal was to present a different perspective, modeled after the “community conversations” school district leaders held in the fall before announcing a first round of budget cuts.
“Both sides are having a difficult time communicating to each other and it’s just a really difficult situation overall,” she said.
The district is in mediation with both of its employee unions after failing to reach contract agreements during negotiations last year.
Mediation with teachers is continuing in January. Both sides described progress as positive and said they were hopeful a contract could be reached without a teacher strike.
School safety, particularly training for dealing with violent students and school responses to students acting out, has been a major sticking point during negotiations, alongside pay and preparation time for educators.
Superintendent Andrea Castañeda announced an initial round of cuts and planned spending reductions in December, a proposal intended to save $31 million this year and next through overhead reductions, supply and travel budget cuts and eliminating some positions, including five school nurses.
She’s warned a larger cuts package will be needed in the spring to balance the district budget, and that most of those cuts will hit schools directly.
Castellanos said she hopes the Wednesday event will help both students and people in the community better understand the issues and help them participate in the district’s community discussions ahead of the next round of cuts.
“I know that a lot of them have questions on why this is happening,” she said.
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.
