Uncategorized

AGENDA: Salem-Keizer board considers $1.2 billion budget, new assistant superintendent contracts

After more than a month of discussion, the Salem-Keizer School Board will consider the district’s 2019-20 budget at a meeting Tuesday.

The $1.2 billion proposal maintains current district services with some additions, including more high school mental health counselors and elementary school behavioral support staff.

Prior to voting on the budget, board members will hold a hearing and take public comment.

The board will consider new contracts for two assistant superintendents, Linda Myers and Kraig Sproles, who are currently directors of academic achievement. The contracts would give them a new title as part of a reorganization of district leadership, and a salary between $117,000 and $148,000, about $6,000 more than their pay under the older title.

Board members will also consider tax exemptions for a downtown apartment project under Salem’s multiple housing unit tax incentive program, an LGBTQ Pride Month proclamation and a property easement agreement with the City of Keizer allowing the city to continue operating a water well and pump station on the McNary High School campus.

They will consider allowing Superintendent Christy Perry and Chief Operating Officer Mike Wolfe to approve property transactions like right-of-way dedications and easements to facilitate ongoing school construction projects.

They will consider a resolution in support of creating a Mid-Willamette Homeless Initiative Continuum of Care, which would allow local agencies serving homeless people to receive dedicated state and federal funds.

It will be the final school board meeting for Chuck Lee, who lost a re-election bid in zone 6 to Keizer Chamber of Commerce director Danielle Bethell, and Jim Green, who did not run for re-election in zone 4. That seat will be filled by psychiatrist Satya Chandragiri in July.

Board members will certify those election results.

Meeting details: 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 11 at the district’s Support Services Center, 2575 Commercial Street S.E.

Board members: Kathy Goss, Sheronne Blasi, Marty Heyen, Jesse Lippold, Paul Kyllo, Jim Green and Chuck Lee.

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

Follow Salem Reporter on FACEBOOK and on TWITTER.

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.