DECEMBER 28, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3
A
Great behavior pays
off at Kennedy
B
C
Kennedy Elementary School students’ best behavior paid off
in a big way the week before Christmas break. Ninety-fi ve per-
cent of the student body earned a glow-in-the- dark party as
part of the school’s Positive Behavior Interventions and Sup-
ports. It ended up being so many students that the party had to
be divvied up over three days. Students that didn’t make the cut
this time around get a clean slate when they return in January.
A: Priscilla Cervantes, Yaretzi
Sotelo Ochoa, and Zion Or-
tez.
B: Shane Atkins.
C: Jessica Hall and Marcee
Tatum.
D: Kate Higgins.
E
D
2
NOW
E: Jazlin Jimenez and Alana
Baldwin.
F: Jesus Cortez.
Photos by Matt Rawlings and
submitted by Jesse Leonard.
F
SCHOOL,
continued from Page A1
Govus echoed the senti-
ments offered by Romero.
“Principal Romero did the
right thing by engaging the
threat assessment team and im-
mediately investigating so dis-
ciplinary consequences could
be administered,” Govus said.
“Dealing with situations like
these are not easy, and she
moved quickly to ensure her
students were safe.”
However, Govus did ac-
knowledge that the situation
could have been handled in a
more timely matter.
“The process took a little
more time than it should have,”
Govus said.
Govus also added that
“Principal Romero is a fi rst-
year principal, and she’s still
developing her own communi-
cation style. As a district, we’re
still adjusting our communica-
tions procedure as a whole.”
The specifi c details of the
disciplinary action that Cum-
mings took will not be released,
Govus said. The Family Educa-
tional Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA) protects all student
information from public re-
cords, including academic re-
cords and disciplinary records.
“We know children are go-
ing to have confl icts. Howev-
er, if they are in a professional
environment with trained be-
havior specialists and guidance
counselors to support them,
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they have a much better chance
of learning from that confl ict,
understanding what resolution
looks like, realizing the conse-
quences and actively making
better choices in the future,”
Govus said.
On the morning of Dec. 17,
almost three weeks after the
Nov. 28 incident, Romero sent
out an email to the parents of
Cummings regarding safety. Al-
though she did not specifi cally
address the altercation, she did
talk about how the school is
proactively working to support
the children.
“I’m proud of our Cum-
mings community, and my
promise to you and your child
is that our school will remain
a safe place for all students to
learn and grow,” Romero said
in the email. She also direct-
ed parents to an anti-bullying
website and an anonymous tip
website for the Oregon De-
partment of Education.
Later that day, in a case of
terrible timing, a knife was
found in one of the classrooms.
According to Romero, the
safety of the school was not
compromised and there is no
connection between the two
incidents.
Romero sent out another
email at 3:45 p.m. on Dec. 17
to notify the parents of Cum-
mings about the second inci-
dent.
“As you know, safety is
our most important priori-
ty. “Honesty and transparen-
cy play critical roles in safety,
which is why I’m sharing this
message with you,” Romero
said in the email.
There will be a Safety Town
Hall Meeting at Cummings on
Thursday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m.
The SKPS Offi ce of Safety,
Security and Risk Manage-
ment, SKPS Offi ce of Behav-
ioral Learning, SafeOregon
and the Keizer Police will all
be attendance to share ways to
work together to keep children
safe.
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