EIZER times
$1.00/ ISSUE
Vol. 43 • No. 7
DECEMBER 03, 2021
District suspensions double:
Spike directly follows public report from district
File photo of Keizertimes
By JOEY CAPPELLETTI
Of the Keizertimes
Suspensions in Salem-Keizer Public
Schools have doubled in the 10 school days
following the district’s public release of dis-
cipline data at a Nov. 16 school board work
session.
The Nov. 16 school board work session
was one of only two times that the district
planned on publicly releasing discipline
data. District leadership presented disci-
pline data from the beginning of the school
year up until Nov. 5. During that period of
time, there were 40 school days and 1,006
suspensions in the district — an average of
25 suspensions a day.
Public records obtained by the
Keizertimes show that between Nov. 5 and
Nov. 22, a total of 10 school days, there were
a total of 503 suspensions in the district
and daily averages doubled to 50 suspen-
sions a day.
The spike comes after multiple school
board directors asked at the Nov. 16 meet-
ing why the district leadership hasn't been
more transparent with the release of disci-
pline data.
Iton Udosenata, co-assistant super-
intendent in the district, said on a call
Tuesday, Nov. 30 that the spike in suspen-
sions wasn’t due to any lag in data entry
following the public report.
“A pattern that I've seen in my time as
a building leader is that, especially around
the holidays, we'll see a spike in or increase
in problem behaviors in school. And this is
for a variety of reasons,” said Udosenata.
“We see it in November right before
Thanksgiving. And we also often see it
right before the winter break.”
Data provided by Salem-Keizer district
spokesperson Aaron Harada shows that
suspensions were high during the same
period in 2019. From Nov. 5 to Nov. 22 in
2019, there were 775 violations — 462 more
than in 2021. There were three more school
days during this period in 2019 however.
School
board
directors
Satya
Chandragiri and Marty Heyen asked at
the Nov. 16 work session why the district
stopped presenting discipline data every
month. Danielle Bethell, the board director
for Keizer, has also said in the past that she
wants the data to be shared more regularly.
School board directors have regular
access to daily updates on discipline data
through an online dashboard.
Last spring, following the removal of
school resources offi cers from schools in
March, the district presented discipline
data monthly to close out the school year.
The district is only scheduled to release
discipline data twice this school year —
once at the Nov. 16 meeting and again in
February.
Board Chair Osvaldo Avila said at the
Nov. 16 work session that district and board
leadership made the decision not to show
See DISTRICT, page A2
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SUBSCRIBER ADDRESS :
S-K school board director considers
pulling children from district
By JOEY CAPPELLETTI
Of the Keizertimes
Danielle Bethell, a parent of two
students in Salem-Keizer schools,
took to Facebook on Nov. 23 to ask
for help from her followers.
“In search of middle school/
high school homeschool pods in the
Keizer area, or nearby,” she wrote.
“If you operate or participate in one,
please instant message me.”
Bethell has served on the
—
Salem-Keizer school board since
2019 as the director for Zone 6,
which encompasses Keizer. She rep-
resents more than 38,000 people and
10 schools on the board. Her post on
Nov. 23 was on her private account
that only her followers could see.
“Should I be nervous by this
post?” one commenter wrote.
Bethell wrote in response that the
decision to look at other options is
“specifically about us, the choices we
need to make for our children,
and the lack of real education
and safety being provided in
‘I’ve been frustrated for
our schools today.”
some time and regardless
“Fundamentally, the num-
ber one goal for us as parents
of the role that I play in
is to be sure our children are
this community my
raised in a stable, healthy
children must come fi rst,’
environment. Our teachers
are overtaxed, the hallways
and classrooms are unsafe,
DANIELLE BETHELL
whether you consider safety
School Board Director,
through physical nature or
SALEM-KEIZER ZONE 6
Danielle Bethell | File photo of Keizertimes
mental/emotional, all of those chal-
lenges exist. I’ve been frustrated for
some time and regardless of the role
that I play in this community my
children must come first,” she added
in her comment.
See BOARD, page A3