SEPTEMBER 17, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A11
Tensions high once again S-K board meeting
BY HERB SWETT
For the Keizertimes
Audience accusations of white suprem-
acy positions and arguments over mask-
ing continued at Tuesday’s meeting of the
Salem-Keizer School Board.
Twenty-three people spoke remotely,
a few calling for the resignations of board
members Marty Heyen and Danielle
Bethell. Heyen replied that the allegations
of racism resulted from her husband’s
business associations with people whose
views he did not hold.
Board member Karina Guzman Ortiz
commented that reverse racism does not
exist. Heyen disagreed, defining racism as
presupposing something because of race.
Bethell was absent.
Some callers complained that there
were teachers who did not wear masks
correctly. Grace Caldwell, student adviser
to the board, said she had found consis-
tent wearing of masks throughout McKay
High School. Superintendent Christy
Perry said she had seen masks everywhere
except for a few students whose families
did not allow them.
“We find spots for them,” she said of
the students not allowed to wear masks.
Board member Satya Chandragiri
urged people to get the third COVID-19
vaccination booster, and compared them
to slices of Swiss cheese, with three slices
covering a greater area than two.
On other matters, Perry noted that
nearly 41,000 students were enrolled for
the 2021-21 school year. She praised the
work of contractors who had just com-
pleted a media center and new gymnasium
at McKay and the new auditorium and
commons at South Salem High School.
She said the administration wanted to
have full crowds at athletic events.
In other business, the board approved
proclamations of Sept. 15 through Oct.
15 as Hispanic Heritage Month and Sept.
15-22 as Safe and Welcoming Schools
Week.
Grants accepted by the board included
$5,699,868 from the Oregon Department
of Education as a continuation grant for
the district’s Head Start kindergarten
program. It will allow the district to serve
898 students in 15 Head Start classrooms.
Other grants from ODE are $1,324,125
for the Preschool Promise Early Childhood
Program, enabling the district to serve an
additional 107 pre-kindergarten students;
$105,000 for Head Start/pre-kindergarten
summer programming; and $80,000 for
early childhood summer programs.
Still more grants are $354,920 from
the Marion & Polk Early Learning Hub,
Inc., to increase children’s readiness for
kindergarten; $175,000 as a collabora-
tion program between Mountain West
Investment Corp. and the district to
help increase student achievement and
outcomes; and $168,927 from the US
Department of Education for support ser-
vices for American Indian and Alaskan
Native students.
Personnel actions approved by the
board include the following in the McNary
High School attendance area:
Temporary part-time: Ann Andrews,
Whiteaker Middle School; Angel Carter,
Gubser Elementary School; Josie Macklin,
McNary.
Temporary
full-time:
Dezarey
Deerwester, Whiteaker; Emily Frazier,
Claggett Creek Middle School; Kelsie
Leverett, Clear Lake Elementary School;
James Litchfield, McNary; Sarah Phillips,
Gubser; Kezra Presleigh, Forest Ridge
and Kennedy elementary schools; Joshua
Riddell, Claggett Creek; Linda Rogers,
Weddle Elementary School; Angela
Sommer, Gubser; Andrea Stroup, Keizer
Elementary School.
First-year probation part-time: Sherrin
Landis, Whiteaker; Pippa Randolph,
Gubser.
First-year probation full-time: Emilie
Andersson,
Cummings
Elementary
School; Kira Bowers, Claggett Creek;
Ashley Brand, Gubser; Audrey Creager,
Weddle; Marisa Eaton, Claggett Creek;
Said Gonzalez-Ruano, McNary; Toni
Harvey, Claggett Creek; Marissa Hawk,
Forest Ridge; Matthew Hirshblond,
Claggett Creek; Ma Gabriela Paniaga
Garcia, Weddle; Silvia Rodriguez-Alvarez,
Claggett Creek; Jennifer South, Gubser;
Robert Spurling, McNary.
Second-year
probation
full-time:
Desiree Fink, Gubser.
Third-year probation full-time: Laura
Wagstaff, Claggett Creek.
Contract part-time: Matt Kuerbis,
McNary.
Resignations: Nichole Fox, Weddle;
Beth Gibbins, Gubser; Tonya Hodson,
Kennedy; Sara Koenig, Forest Ridge;
Karen Van Vlack, Keizer.
Retirement: Rick Ward, McNary.
Status change from contract full-time
to contract part-time: Sandra Krause,
Claggett Creek, choir.
Heyen expressed concern with the
large numbers of resignations in recent
months. Perry called it “super hard to be
an educator right now” and suggested
that the school system have a program on
hiring.
The board elected directors Maria
Hinojos Pressey and Ashley Carson
Cottingham to the legislative policy
committee of the Oregon School Boards
Association.
brainfood
Cat of the Week
Name: BELLATRIX
Age: 18 months
HISTORY:
Bellatrix is a black domestic short
hair that was brought into the shelter
in March. The people who found her
thought she was giving birth and
luckily, a vet was at the shelter that
day. They discovered the cat actually
had a urinary infection and received
surgery immediately. If they waited
any longer, she wouldn’t have made it.
PREFERRED HOME:
This cat does best in a peaceful home.
She is very affectionate and playful.
Bellatrix is on a special food diet due
to some health issues.
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answers pg A15