Students enter Swegle Elementary on the first day of school in 2018. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) A substitute teacher was fired by the Salem-Keizer district after students reported she told a fifth-grade student to “go back to Mexico” when he declined to say the Pledge of Allegiance on Tuesday. Her comment[Read More…]

Justin Thach, senior at West Salem High School (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) For West Salem senior Justin Thach, moving to Oregon from New Jersey in the middle of high school was a shock. Thach, the son of Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants, found less racial diversity and a tendency for Oregonians to[Read More…]

Vacant land now owned by St. Edward Catholic Church will soon be part of McNary High School. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Keizer’s Catholic church has agreed to sell about six acres of land to the Salem-Keizer School District, ending a legal battle over the property. District leaders said Thursday they’d reached[Read More…]

Blanchet Catholic School principal and president Bob Weber stands in the school commons, build during Blanchet’s last capital campaign. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) In a bid to attract more students and remain competitive, Salem’s only Catholic secondary school is seeking millions for campus improvements. Blanchet Catholic School leaders are working to[Read More…]

Teachers, parents and students packed the room to speak before a Salem-Keizer school board vote on boundary changes on Feb. 12, 2019 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) After more than two hours of public testimony from dozens of parents, teachers and students, a divided Salem-Keizer school board approved a controversial boundary change[Read More…]

Adriana Miranda, left, answers questions about the Salem-Keizer School District’s boundary adjustment plan for NAACP President Benny Williams, right, as Superintendent Christy Perry looks on. Hours before the Salem-Keizer School Board considers adopting new school attendance boundaries, Latino community groups are urging a delay to address concerns raised recently by[Read More…]

A Marion County judge on Wednesday said the Salem-Keizer School District’s lawsuit to acquire a Keizer church’s land through eminent domain can move forward. Marion County Circuit Court Judge David Leith denied a motion from St. Edward Catholic Church to dismiss the suit, saying the forced land sale didn’t violate[Read More…]

McKay High School’s production of “The Wiz” continues Saturday, Jan. 26. (Caleb Wolf/Special to Salem Reporter) McKay High School’s Royal Scots Theater is starting the new year off strong staging the musical “The Wiz” in a way student actors hope reflects the diversity of the cast and the student body[Read More…]

David New, a 2018 graduate from North Salem High School, speaks about how he earned a diploma. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) David New wasn’t sure how far behind he was in school. At the start of his senior year at North Salem High School in 2017, he assumed he was so[Read More…]

Rosa Rivera, counselor at North Salem High School, talks to a student during an advisory period. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) North Salem High School counselor Rosa Rivera was all business as she addressed the seniors trickling in to the school’s upstairs auditorium. “Do you have your schedule?” she asked, checking each[Read More…]