The principal of Lee Elementary School has resigned, shifting to a new school post to work one day a week until the end of the school year, according to Salem-Keizer School District officials. Principal Don Hakala’s last day at the school, located in southeast Salem, was Wednesday, March 20. He[Read More…]

North High School senior and student body president Kiara Ballard speaks at the school’s groundbreaking ceremony with vice president Ben Garcia, right. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Senior Kiara Ballard won’t be around to see North Salem High School’s renovations over the next 18 months. But the student body president said she’s[Read More…]

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…]