SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 40, NO. 21
SECTION A
FEBRUARY 22, 2019
$1.00
Schools,
church
strike
$2.26
million
deal
A
File
Fight for literacy
Co-tauGht classes essential to solution
By MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
Coming into the school year, admin-
istration at McNary High School knew
that they were getting a high volume
of incoming ninth graders that weren't
reading at grade level — roughly 45 per-
cent of the freshman class.
During the fi rst semester, McNary
offered literacy tutorials for students that
needed remedial assistance to try and
help them get back on track.
However, at the start of second se-
mester, the Salem-Keizer School Dis-
trict made the decision to eliminate lit-
eracy tutorials, or any English electives
that were used as a substitute for students
that were unprepared for ninth-grade
English classes.
The decision put the burden on Mc- have kids that are reading at a senior level
Nary English teachers to try and fi gure in the same class reading the same text.”
But Bouley is in her 12th year teach-
out how to help struggling kids catch-
ing freshman English at
up, even though they
McNary, and she is no
were now put in a class
“ This year, it’s
stranger to rolling with
that was above their
the punches.
skill level.
been harder to
Bouley is teach-
“There have always
differentiate the
ing four English-nine
been low readers and
classes this semester
there has always been
extremes.”
and two of them are
high achievers,” Mc-
— Melinda Bouley, co-taught by Nicole
Nary English teacher
McNary enGlish teacher
De Blasi, who, along
Melinda Bouley said.
with being a co-teach-
“But this year, it's been
er, works in the special
harder to differenti-
ate the extremes that are there because education department at McNary.
English classes are co-taught when
without the literacy tutorials, you have
to fi gure out how to support the kid that there are a high number of students on
is at a third-grade reading level when I
Please see LITERACY, PaGe A8
River Rd redux hones in on cyclists, pedestrians
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Visitors to an open house on
revitalizinG River Road assess
Of the Keizertimes
some of the proposals com-
About three dozen Keizer
inG out of the study.
residents, city offi cials and
committee volunteers turned
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
out to give feedback on
proposals for revitalizing
Keizer’s commercial corridors
2 – Installing a two-way
during an open house Tuesday, bike and walking path on
Feb. 12.
the east side of River Road.
Among the various ideas on In this instance, vehicle travel
the table is a way to transform lanes would be decreased from
River Road to accommodate 12 feet to 10 feet and result in
and promote multimodal a more comfortable travel bike
transportation such as biking for riders of all levels.
and walking. Consultants from
3 – Retaining all current
Otak prepared three options lanes of travel, but reducing
and asked attendees to place lane sizes to 10.5 feet across
stickers indicating their level the board while installing
of support next to the three four-foot bike lanes on each
proposals.
side of the road. Given the
At a meeting of the Keiz- small bike lane size, Brown
er Traffi c Safety
said only the
Committee two
most courageous
days later, Com- “ It’s not in
riders
would
munity Devel-
likely
use
the proGram bike lanes. the
opment Director
Nate Brown said
to eliminate
During the
it was one of the
open house, par-
driveways”
more
divisive
ticipants mostly
issues, but prob-
— Nate Brown, hated the idea of
lems will persist
eliminating the
Community Develop.
without change.
center lane, they
Director, City of Keizer
“There
are
were lukewarm
32,000 trips a
on Option 3 and
day on River Road, and when a two-way bike and pedestri-
we expanded it some of the an lane received the most sup-
frontage on the east side was port.
chopped off leaving businesses
Brown said a fourth option
with substandard parking,” is establishing parallel bike
Brown said.
paths on exterior streets, but
The options Otak arrived that options on the east and
at were:
west sides are not as close to
1 – Removing the center River Road as most riders
turn lane and installing would prefer.
buffered bike lanes on both
There
might
be
sides of River Road. While opportunities to implement
the bike lanes would be elements of all three options
buffered, some cyclists might depending on the available
be uncomfortable with the space at various points along
close proximity to vehicle
Please see REDUX, PaGe A8
traffi c.
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
A weeks-long standoff over
six acres behind St. Edward
Catholic Church came to an
abrupt end on Valentine’s Day.
Salem-Keizer Public Schools
and
the church
leadership TO
STARTER
GUIDE
struck a $2.26 million deal for
that land that will allow the
district to proceed with plans
to expand capacity at McNary
High School.
“We recognize that like
schools, churches are the hubs of
the communities they serve, and
we look forward to being good
neighbors and partners. We
appreciate their professionalism
through this process,” said
Salem-Keizer Superintendent
Christy Perry in a statement.
The district was slated to
take possession of the property
on Tuesday, Feb. 19, which will
allow the district to proceed
with fi ling the permits it needs
to begin construction this
summer.
The six acres behind the
church are expected to become
softball fi elds and a soccer pitch
with limited parking and a
driveway for special education
buses to reach the campus.
The current softball fi elds
will be used for additional
parking, tennis courts and a
more streamlined pick-up and
drop-off traffi c pattern.
McNary’s
scheduled
expansion includes additions
to the north and south sides of
the existing building that will
eliminate the need for portable
classrooms and result in 14
new general classrooms, a new
science lab and two career-
technical education spaces.
The church and school
district had been trading legal
fi lings for the better part of two
months over the district’s usage
of eminent domain.
HW: Health
& Wellness
SEE
MAGAZINE
INSIDE
Keizer’s Kid
Governor
finalist
PAGE A2
Girls bowling
head to
state
tourney
PAGE A10
WEST SALEM SHOOTING RANGE:
A possible solution?
A measure proposed by located in Polk County
Oregon Senate President across the river, but the
Peter Courtney would threat of fi nancial liability
open the possibility of might force the hand
of Polk County
suing city and
commissioners
county jurisdic-
who have been
tions when bul-
reluctant to take
lets stray from
action.
private property
Keizer residents
and injure oth-
have
attended
ers.
Polk
County
The
bill,
Commissioner s’
Senate
Bill
781
(SB781), Peter Courtney meetings several
times during the
may not have
past year to ask
an
immediate
impact on the dispute for an end to the shooting
between residents of west taking place across the river
Keizer and a shooting range and, were at one point,
asked “how big a bubble”
they wanted.
SB781 would also make
it explicit in Oregon
Revised Statute that a
county or city could adopt
ordinances to “regulate,
restrict or prohibit the
discharge
of
fi rearms
within their boundaries,”
but the bill includes
numerous exceptions in
the vein of simply having
permission to discharge a
fi rearm on private property
as a justifi cation for doing
so.
While the bill is a step
PAGE A11
Please see GUNS, PaGe A8
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