DECEMBER 24, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A7
Conflicting reports surround
COVID outbreak at Bonaventure
Senior Living
On Sept. 1, the Oregon Health
Authority reported that an outbreak that
began Aug. 23 at Bonaventure of Keizer
Assisted Living and Memory Care had
infected five people. On Sept. 9, the out-
break had spread to 24 people and one
resident had died.
Aubrey Kelly’s grandmother began
living in the Memory Care unit at
Bonaventure of Keizer in late July of this
year.
On Sept. 8, Kelly received a phone call
from her grandmother telling her that
she had a fever. Kelly was surprised, since
she was supposed to be informed if her
grandmother was ever sick.
“I started trying to call Bonaventure
and I could never get through. I'm talking
20 times I tried to call and I couldn’t get
through,” Kelly said.
Bonaventure said in an email to
the Keizertimes that their telephone ser-
vice “has been experiencing sporadic
outages and we have notified the carrier.”
After being unable to reach anyone
on the phone, Kelly’s sister went to the
facility that night and a caregiver said
her grandmother had been in bed for two
days with a fever and a cough.
Kelly returned to the facility the next
morning, and said the assistant director
told her there was no documentation
of her grandmother having a fever or
her grandmother ever being tested for
COVID.
As of Sept. 13, Kelly said three differ-
ent caregivers said her grandmother had
Local schools welcome back students
for first day
The morning of Wednesday, Sept. 8
served as a momentous day in Keizer as
K-12 students made their way to their first
day of full, in-person school in 18 months
— with a multitude of students stepping
on their school's campus for the first time.
Despite their being numerous
COVID-19 protocols at each school —
such as a mask requirement for all who
enter the school and vaccination require-
ments for staff — school personnel were
thrilled to be back on campus.
“I am so fired up for today. I couldn't
sleep last night I was so excited about
a sense of normalcy,” McNary Principal
a fever, but no one knew if, or when, she
was tested for COVID. Kelly said she was
told all Memory Care residents are sup-
posed to be tested on Saturdays.
“Because of the outbreak and because
of the terrible use of personal protective
equipment that I have witnessed, I think
she probably does have COVID,” Kelly
said Friday, Sept. 10. “But I still can't fig-
ure out if she's been tested.”
In response to a list of written ques-
tions from the Keizertimes, Bonaventure
officials said there have been 22 COVID
cases since Aug. 16, not 24 as OHA had
reported. They also said COVID was
“introduced into Bonaventure of Keizer
on Aug. 19, 2021 by a fully vaccinated
person. It is likely that it was introduced
by more than one source.”
All 22 cases, according to Bonaventure,
are residents. The Assisted Living and
Memory Care facilities at Bonaventure
of Keizer have a combined 96 licensed
beds. Bonaventure said the outbreak also
included the Independent Living facility.
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA)
data on vaccination rates at long-term
care facilities, which was last updated
Aug. 16, shows that 34% of staff members
at Bonaventure of Keizer are vaccinated.
The same data shows that 99% of resi-
dents are vaccinated.
The vaccination rate of staff at
the Bonaventure of Keizer is the sec-
ond-worst among long-term care
facilities in Marion County. Another
Bonaventure facility, Bonaventure of
Salem, reported a 12% vaccination rate
among staff on Aug. 16.
Erik Jespersen said. “We still have a pan-
demic that we are working through, but
to have kids here five days a week, to be
fully engaged in their learning and hav-
ing school back to somewhat normal is
amazing. I am so excited. This is prob-
ably the most excited I have been in 24
years of education.”
“It feels great to see kids walking into
the classroom. For many of our kids this
is their first time. This is just one sign
of us being back on track,” Assistant
Superintendent Iton Udosenata added.
“After months of planning, I’m just
excited that the day has finally arrived."
Councilor Ross Day resigns following
outburst at Nov. 1 council meeting
Councilor Ross Day resigned from
his position on the Keizer City Council
following a Nov. 1 meeting that left
Council President Elizabeth Smith
“shocked and speechless” and Keizer
Mayor Cathy Clark publicly condemn-
ing his behavior.
“I’ve got a great family, a great job, I
don’t need the drama of the city coun-
cil. They wanted me to sit around like
a bump on a pickle, and that’s not who
I am,” Day said during a phone call fol-
lowing the news of his resignation.
“We thank Ross Day for his service
and wish him well in the future,” Clark
said in a written statement.
Day’s resignation came days after
a meeting in which he vehemently
opposed the naming of the Community
Diversity Engagement Committee and
said the committee would be used by
its members as a platform to attack
others and call people racists, homo-
phobes and bigots. During the meeting,
Day also called Keizertimes publisher
Lyndon Zaitz a “liar” and said the local
paper was a “parrot” for people in the
community that he described as “idiots.”
McNary grad numbers leap: Latino
students lead the pack
After recording their best graduation
numbers in more than a decade in 2019,
the McNary High School class of 2020
again posted some of the best numbers
in the Salem-Keizer School District.
McNary's four-year senior cohort
graduated 91.21% of students in 2020,
just over 10% higher than the district
average. It was the second year in a row
that McNary graduated more than 90% of
their senior class.
“This isn’t a blip. We have been track-
ing these numbers for the last six years
and we have seen consistent growth year
in and year out,” McNary principal Erik
Jespersen said. “It’s validating to know
that we are going in the right direction
as a collective school.”
One of the biggest sources of pride for
Jespersen was seeing the four-year grad-
uation rate for Latino students.
When Jespersen took over as the
McNary principal during the 2014-15
school year, Latino students, which rep-
resent approximately one-third of the
McNary student body, had a 73% gradu-
ation rate. During that same year, white
students posted an 86% graduation rate.
Over the last six years, the gap
has completely closed. According to
Jespersen, 2020 was the first year in
school history that Latino students had
a higher graduation rate (91.48%) than
white students (91.25%) — the Latino
graduation rate numbers improved
nearly 7% from last year.
The 91.25% Latino graduation at
McNary is 12% higher than the state
average.
“It's so incredibly gratifying to know
that if you are walking in our hallways,
the chance you are going to have success
is extremely high and it propels you to
be a successful citizen for the rest of your
life. It just matters. We don't have gaps at
our school. We serve all of our kids. It's a
really great feeling,” Jespersen said.
State Rep. Bill Post to resign at the end
of November
After announcing in late September
that he had moved to Nevada, Republican
state Rep. Bill Post told the Keizertimes
that he would be resigning from his posi-
tion as the House District 25 representa-
tive effective Nov. 30. Post had originally
said that he would continue to serve
as state representative while living in
Nevada.
“After further discussions with an elec-
tions attorney and talking it over with my
wife, it appears that the best action I can
take for my district and my family is to
resign before my term is over and give my
successor a chance to serve during the
2022 Short Legislative Session,” Post said
in a press release sent to the Keizertimes.
Post has been a resident of Keizer since
1994 and has served as state representa-
tive for Keizer, St. Paul and Newberg since
2014. While Post had announced in early
September that he would not be seeking
re-election, his current term wasn’t set to
officially expire until January 2023.
Continued on page A8