An In-Depth Look at Salem School Challenges by Salem Reporter

The new online publication, the Salem Reporter, is providing some good information about schools in the Salem Keizer School District. The articles are well written and cover some important points. This is the first one.

This is the April 16th article.

Bailee Moore (pink fuzzy ears), and classmates work on a computer math exercise in Becky Montgomery’s 2nd grade class at Highland Elementary School in Salem Wednesday March 13, 2019. Salem-Keizer schools for Rachel Alexander/The Salem Reporter Wednesday 3/13/19. 2019 Fred Joe / www.fredjoephoto.com

Haga de la Paternidad un Placer in Woodburn

Sarai Valverde, Kinder Readiness Grant Coordinator at Woodburn School District, and Lucia Sanchez Caballero, course facilitator, talk about the program offered at Woodburn School District

Feliz Navidad! ****** Merry Christmas!

Thank you to our donors for your fantastic support this year!

And a special thank you to CCTV for producing our holiday video

2018 Open Letter from Paul Krissel of the Racial Justice Organizing Committee

Download (PDF, 110KB)

2018 SKCE and SKSD co-sponsored the Summer Culture and Language Institute

Teachers, administrators and other staff attended the 2018 Summer Culture and Language Institute from the Salem Keizer School District and other school districts in the area. This was the second year the Summer Institute was offered and co-sponsored. The curriculum was appreciated last year, and it was reflected in the attendance, which doubled this year.

The Institute began on June 29th and ended on July 3rd. Mornings were spent learning Spanish, and afternoons were spent with speakers presenting on both culture and education equity. Field trips were also provided to schools that have a high ration of Latino students, a neighborhood that illustrated the problems that Latino families must encounter, as well as Latino businesses and organizations.

This Institute is co-sponsored by the Salem Keizer Coalition for Equality and the Salem Keizer School District.

The following slideshow will give an overview of the kinds of activities that school personnel engaged in during the Institute.

Every Day 24J! Increase Student Attendence in Salem Keizer School District

Join our campaign to increase student attendance in the Salem Keizer School District!

Únase a nuestra campaña para aumentar la asistencia de los estudiantes en el Distrito Escolar de Salem Keizer!

We are doing lots to increase the attendance of Latino students from immigrant Spanish speaking backgrounds by working with their parents.

Estamos trabajando mucho para aumentar la asistencia de los estudiantes latinos de origen hispano-hablante al trabajar con sus padres.

The local absenteeism rates:

(FRL = Free and Reduced Lunch)

Take a look at these results!

¡Eche un vistazo a estos resultados!

School Board Responds to School-to-Prison Pipeline Concerns

Superintendent Perry and Board Agree with Concerns

In this email response from Superintendent Christy Perry, she discusses the resolution to hire a sworn police officer, and the decision that she and the Salem Keizer School District School Board made. They listened to the concerns voiced by SKCE and several other groups and took the information very seriously.

As I shared last week, I truly appreciate the time you took to come to our board meeting and share your concerns around the resolution to authorize SKPS as a law enforcement agency. Tonight, after reflecting on your comments and meeting with a group of community leaders, I am requesting the resolution be withdrawn.

The recommendation to withdraw the resolution was advocated for by members of the NAACP, Mano a Mano, Latinos Unidos Siempre, faith leaders, educators, parents and students. Board Chair Kathy Goss and Vice-Chair Sheronne Blasi joined in the dialogue.

The Salem-Keizer Public Schools (SKPS) Office of Safety and Risk Management will move forward hiring for the position of security manager, which was vacated in June. In keeping with its previous role, it will not be filled by a sworn officer. The security manager will support the threat prevention system, advise staff on operational security, support building staff on security-related issues and serve as a liaison with local law enforcement agencies who staff school resource officers.

The school district will continue examining avenues to better perform in-depth background checks as needed for staff and volunteers.

Thank you to Superintendent Perry and the School Board for being so responsive to concerns voiced by citizen advocates.

SKCE Voices Concerns to School Board Regarding Police as Security

School-to-Prison Pipeline Risk for Students vs. Increased Police Presence

(If “school-to-prison pipeline” is an unfamiliar phrase, go to the Wikipedia link to read about this issue.)

SKCE joined other members of the community to give public comment at the school board business session on Tuesday evening, July 24th, concerning new plans for the school security department.

Community members were concerned that the new plans would increase the risk of students being caught up in the school-to-prison pipeline, which affects students of color and students who experience a disability and/or poverty. A U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights report clearly illustrates the severity and prevalence of this issue.

Salem Keizer school district is proposing to hire a sworn Police Officer to be the new Security Director, as Ray Byrd, former Security Director, has taken a new position with the Oregon Youth Authority. SKCE and many community members are concerned that this would change the culture, process, and procedures of school security and discipline.

Read the full Statesman Journal article by Natalie Pate

Oregon Community Foundation Awards a 3-Year Grant to SKCE

The Oregon Community Foundation has awarded a 3-year grant to SKCE, beginning in the summer of 2018. The goal is to strengthen the fundraising and marketing capacity for programming that helps spanish speaking parents improve the educational achievement of their children.

The first year award is $30,000, the second year is $25,000 and the third year is $20,000.

Board members Arturo Sarmiento-Linares, Christi Ortiz, Fabiola Camacho, Chris Brantley and Charlie Benitez were on hand to accept the grant award along with Annalivia Palazzo-Angulo, the SKCE Executive Director. Susan fuller, the Oregon Community Foundation volunteer representative, presented the grant award.

(Photo L to R: Arturo Sarmiento-Linares, Christi Ortiz, Fabiola Camacho, Annalivia Palazzo-Angulo, Susan Fuller, Chris Brantley, Charlie Benitez)

Thank you, Oregon Community Foundation!

Our 2018 Raising the Bar for Oregon Luncheon was a success!

Between our generous business sponsors and supporters, the 2018 Raising the Bar luncheon was a great success! The luncheon attendees, donors and sponsors together raised a total that was an all time high for SKCE events.

SKCE and Our Partners