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.