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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 2021)
PAGE A2, KEIZERTIMES, FEB. 26, 2021 School district prepares to welcome back some students after a year apart BY MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes Although there was no school last week due to the ice storm that knocked out power over much of the area, Salem-Keizer Public Schools (SKPS) administrators notifi ed the school board on Tuesday, Feb. 23, that the storm would not deter the effort to return to in-person learning. However, Superintendent Christy Perry told the board that around 8,000 families are still without power and that the district would have to make calendar adjustments. Assistant superintendent Kraig Sproles shared with the board that during the storm, they lost most refrigeration across the district, making SKPS’s daily grab-and-go meal operations signifi cantly more challenging. “To retool those kitchens and then stock grab-and-go lunches with new food and getting those ready to go was a Herculean task that our food service staff and our transpor- tation staff all worked together on to get thousands of lunches out on Thursday and Friday of last week,” Sproles said. “The way that our school serves essential services to our com- munity goes far beyond teach- ing reading and writing, and we know that, this was just another affi rmation of that.” police scanner SUNDAY, FEB. 14 8 a.m. - Fraud use of credit card in the 4000 block of Riv- er Road N. 2:26 p.m. - Theft in the 6000 block of Keizer Station Blvd. 9:11 p.m. - Theft in the 7000 block of Parkplace Drive NE. MONDAY, FEB. 15 7:56 a.m. - Telephonic ha- rassment in the 600 block of Rose Park Lane NE. 12:43 p.m. - Arrest for assault in the 3000 block of Cherry Avenue NE. 3:51 p.m. - Sudden death in the 2000 block of Latona Court NE. TUESDAY, FEB. 16 1:02 a.m. - Sudden death in the 7000 block of Wheatland Road N. 9:43 a.m. - Theft in the 6000 block of Keizer Station Blvd. 12:58 p.m. - Shoplifting in the 6000 block of Keizer Station Blvd. 1:40 p.m. - Identity theft in the 5000 block of River Road N. 6:18 p.m. - Shoplifting in the 6000 block of Ulali Drive. 10:11 p.m. - Telephonic ha- rassment in the 3000 block of River Road N. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 17 12:46 p.m. - Fleeing a police offi cer at the intersection of Sunset Avenue N and River- crest Drive N. 6:53 p.m. - Criminal tres- passing in the 4000 block of Noon Avenue NE. 11:30 p.m. - Theft in the 900 block of Chemawa Road NE. With K-1 students set to return to their schools on a part-time basis next week, elementary instructional staff made their return to their respective schools earlier this week to review safety proto- cols and procedures and set up learning spaces — the remain- der of elementary students are still scheduled to arrive back at school under a hybrid mod- el later in March. “I’m sure you can appreci- ate the hundreds of tasks that teachers are accomplishing right now. Remember, they have been teaching largely from their living rooms since last March, so now our teach- ers are transitioning all of their equipment and their teach- ing materials back to their classrooms, which look really different,” Sproles said. “They no longer have 28 desks in the room. They might have 11 desks in the room because they are physically spread out. We have much fewer things in the classroom because of the cleaning protocols required between cohorts.” “Our teachers are transitioning all of their equipment and their teaching materials back to their classrooms, which look really different.” — Kraig Sproles After providing outreach on elementary reentry to tar- geted groups earlier this week, SKPS communications direc- At least 100 volunteers are needed to help clean up around the Keizer Civic Cen- ter Saturday, March 13. Each year, the Rotary Club of Keizer and Claggett Creek Watershed Council host a morning of work ranging from picking up trimmings from trees, shrubs and grasses to removing weeds and more. The clean-up is sched- uled from 9 a.m. to noon, but many hands make light work and could mean a quicker fi nish. Pandemic-related safe- ty protocols will be in effect throughout the effort. Volunteers can simply show up the day of the event and are encouraged to bring wheelbarrows, plastic trash cans, rakes, tarps, pruners, weed pullers and other tools that might be useful. Long pants, sturdy shoes, gloves, hats and coats are en- couraged. The Keizer Civic Center is located at 930 Chemawa Road N.E. A collection box and disposal are being donat- ed by Loren’s Sanitation. Keizer library installs fi rst drop box THURSDAY, FEB. 18 Keizer Community Library has installed a book return box on the west side of the Keizer Cultural Center, home of the library. Thanks to a generous donation, the kiosk is specifi - cally for library returns. While the Library is tem- porarily closed to public ac- cess, patrons can fi nd items 6:45 p.m. - Burglary in the 5000 block of Chehalis Drive N. 8:10 p.m. - Arrest for men- acing use of weapons in the 4000 block of River Road N. FRIDAY, FEB. 19 3:44 p.m. - Theft in the 3000 block of River Road N. 6:05 p.m. - Theft by deception in the 5000 block of Verda Lane NE. 10:40 p.m. - Traffi c accident at the intersection of Cherry Av- enue NE and Manbrin Drive NE. SATURDAY, FEB. 20 12:17 p.m. - Vandalism in the 3000 block of River Road N. tor Sylvia McDaniel said that the district is providing family informational sessions at four Black and African-American churches on Sunday, Feb. 28, as well as a Spanish language church. As for secondary educa- tion, assistant superintendent Iton Udosenata said that middle and high schools are targeting a return to partial in-person school on April 13, but admitted that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. “It’s not as easy as saying this school has X amount of square feet, therefore we can fi t this many kids in the building. We actually need to go into each building and each room and outfi t that space,” Udose- nata said. “That will give our master schedulers, out prin- cipals and the planning teams at the high school and middle school an opportunity and see what our true capacity is… We really do want high school and middle school families to know that we are committed to seeing students in person.” Civic center clean-up March 13 Submitted Keizer Community Library patron Jean Baecker is the fi rst to use the new book drop. to check out via the cata- log at keizerlibrary.org then phone (503-390-2370) or email (info@keizerlibrary.org) the library with your list, and make an appointment to pick- up your order, curbside. Pick up times are 1 to 3 p.m. on Mondays and 4 to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays.
