JUNE 18, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5
School board to consider 'Free Speech' zone
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
For the second consecutive month, a
protest outside of the Salem-Keizer Public
Schools (SKPS) district office provided
notable disruption during a board meet-
ing on Tuesday, June 15.
Sounds of air horns and banging on
the windows could be heard immediately
as the meeting started, making it difficult
for board members to effectively commu-
nicate with one another.
The raucous crowd caused board chair
Satya Chandrigiri to make an agenda
modification, proposing that the board
consider providing a free speech zone
in a location within the property and
designate a no-trespassing zone — after
appropriate notification to the public —
to prevent disruption of meetings in the
future.
Chandrigiri cited the importance of
the public to be able to listen to the delib-
erations, as well as safety concerns as the
reasons for the proposal.
“Disrupting the business of the board
is a violation of the public meeting law.
You would do the same thing if this kind
of thing happened inside the courtroom,”
said SKPS attorney Paul Dakopolos. “You
would be authorizing the security depart-
ment to enforce a no-trespass zone so that
the meeting wouldn’t be disrupted in the
way it is being disrupted right now.”
Board member Kathy Goss shared her
displeasure with the protestors and said
she didn’t want the board to pander to the
protestors.
“I guess I can’t help but feel like we
are pandering to poor behavior by estab-
lishing a different spot for poor behav-
ior out in our parking lot,” Goss said. “I
would vote for it around the building, but
I wouldn’t vote for replacing it with some-
thing that is going to continue to cause us
problems.”
Chandrigiri pushed back on Goss’s
statement and talked about the impor-
tance of members of the community hav-
ing the opportunity to protest — as well
as the potential ramifications if the board
allowed protestors to continue to disrupt
meetings.
“We have to provide a free-speech
zone where people can (protest). People
do have a fundamental right to protest,
and I am not in support of taking away
that right,” Chandrigiri said. “If the glass
breaks and a little child or adult ends up
getting seriously injured, or if the glass
breaks in the passion and emotion and
they come inside, then we are talking
about potential legal risks and so may
other risks.”
Dakopolos mentioned that the park-
ing lot outside the building could serve
as an adequate location for protestors,
but SKPS chief operations officer Michael
Wolfe said the district would have some
work to do before deciding on a final
potential location.
“We will go through a thorough risk
assessment and determine the best loca-
tion, so that it’s less disruptive but still
honors free speech,” Wolfe said. “We will
do our due-diligence and make sure we
have it in an appropriate space,”
The resolution was eventually passed
with a 5-2 vote, Paul Kyllo and Goss repre-
sented the dissenting votes.
In other business, the board elected
Grace Caldwell to serve as the board’s
new student advisor. Caldwell attends
McKay High School and has spent the last
year on the Salem-Keizer Student Equity/
Student Advisory Committee.
This was the final meeting for current
board members Goss, Kyllo, Sheronne
Blasi and Jesse Lippold Peone, who will be
replaced by Ashley Carson Cottingham,
Karina Guzman Ortiz Osvaldo Avila and
Maria Hinojos Pressey.
Additionally, the board approved
the LGBTQ+ pride proclamation for the
month of June and approved the district’s
$1.5 billion operation budget for the 2021-
22 school year — Marty Heyen and Kyllo
represented the dissenting votes.
brainfood
Independence man
arrested in alleged rape
A man from Independence was show up in court for future proceedings.
arrested on charges of rape, men-
Keizer police responded
acing, coercion, strangulation and
to the report of a domes-
unlawful use of a weapon in north
tic disturbance at approxi-
Keizer on Wednesday, June 9.
mately 10 a.m.
The suspect, Armando Rodarti
The Marion County
Gonzalez, 46, of Independence,
District Attorney's office is
was taken to Marion County jail
pursuing all four charges,
and released June 14. Gonzalez is
according to online court
prohibited from any contact with
records
the victim or their home and will Rodarti Gonzalez
All of the alleged crimes
be fined $10,000 if he does not
are class C felonies.
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