The Salem-Keizer School Board meets virtually for a work session on July 28, 2020 (Screenshot)
Members of the Salem-Keizer School Board will vote Nov. 10 on a plan to add a student advisor to their ranks while also considering a policy that would allow the board chair to cut off public comments that are “obscene, derogatory, name-calling, racist, threatening or direct criticism of named employees.”
Both proposals reflect the sustained criticism the board has received in recent months, chiefly from members of Latinos Unidos Siempre, over the board declining to remove contracted police officers from local schools and a broader feeling that board members are dismissive of students of color.
A student group Superintendent Christy Perry convened to recommend changes to the school resource officer program has not yet publicly put forward recommendations. Perry said Tuesday she expects those recommendations to be presented to the board in December.
Since the summer, students and other Salem residents have signed up in droves for the board’s public comment period, often calling board members racist and white supremacist and demanding several resign. The board has also received comments in support of keeping police in schools, though they’ve been fewer in number and typically submitted in writing, rather than live calls during meetings.
Board chair Satya Chandragiri and other board directors have spoken in recent meetings about the importance of comments staying civil and respectful, with Chandagiri proposing a revised comment policy at the board’s Oct. 13 meeting. Directors Sheronne Blasi and Jesse Lippold raised concerns in that meeting that revisions would give the board a way to cut off criticism simply because they don’t want to hear it.
On Tuesday, the board will do a first reading of the revised comment policy, and will vote on a proposal by Lippold to allow for a student advisor to the board. That student would be an existing member of the district’s student equity committee, which advises Perry.
Board members will also appoint three community volunteers from seven applicants to serve on the district’s budget committee. The committee includes all seven board directors as well as seven volunteers who serve three-year terms. The committee typically begins meeting in February to review the district’s proposed budget for the coming year and ultimately votes on whether to send the budget to the school board for final approval.
Board members will also approve a district proclamation for Native American Heritage Month and National Education Support Professionals Day and hear an update on the district’s Head Start pre-kindergarten program and Covid school reopening targets.
Board details: Live-streamed at 6 p.m. Nov. 10 on Capital Community Media channel 21, and on YouTube at the links below. The agenda is available here and public comments can be submitted until 4:15 p.m. here.
English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6vZ-Cq6USc
Spanish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RLvKvFQr9Q
Board members: Satya Chandragiri, Danielle Bethell, Jesse Lippold, Marty Heyen, Kathy Goss, Sheronne Blasi and Paul Kyllo.
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Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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.
