Three seats on the Salem-Keizer School Board are up for election May 21, with six candidates in the running after meeting the recent filing deadline. Mental health support, school funding and expanded opportunities for students were among the priorities cited by the candidates in a Statesman Journal survey. School safety and improving graduation rates were other common goals. Board members are elected toContinue reading "Meet your 2019 Salem-Keizer School Board candidates"

South Salem High School was recently recognized at its Choose to Include assembly as a Unified Champion School by Special Olympics Oregon. They are the 15th school in the state to earn the distinction, and the only one in Salem-Keizer Public Schools. South Salem is part of the growing movement to make schools more inclusive for  students with special needsContinue reading "South Salem High School pairs special needs students with peers in unified program"

A substitute at a Salem-Keizer elementary school recently told a fifth-grade student to "go back to your country" when he was not saying the words during the Pledge of Allegiance. Read the full story here.

A team of McKay High School students are determined to make life easier for adults with the life-altering condition of dysphagia. And their solution has proved so successful, McKay's team was selected as one of 15 teams nationwide to receive a grant of up to $10,000 from the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams program through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Continue reading "McKay High School students in Salem receive $10,000 in MIT invention program"

Under a proposed boundary plan for Salem-Keizer Public Schools, older, more racially and economically diverse and overcrowded schools will continue as such, despite improvements under the district's $620 million capital-construction bond program. The newer, more white and affluent schools also will receive building and classroom improvements, but no additional students. That has some patrons from Salem's and Keizer's lower-income neighborhoods venting their frustration andContinue reading "Salem-Keizer community ‘not ready for integration’ to reach equity in schools"

Name calling and profanity. Spitting, kicking and hitting. Ripping books. Brandishing scissors. These are some of the behaviors educators say are increasing in Oregon classrooms. Teachers have voiced concerns to the Oregon Education Association over the past few years about disruptive behaviors that not only affect the student doing those things, but also have lasting effects on their peers and educators.Continue reading "Report: Oregon needs more adults, money, training to handle disruptive classrooms"

Andrew "Chowder" McMains, David "Big D.A.Q." Bond and Caleb "lil Gordito" McDonald are three Salem teens rapping their way into the music industry with songs about addiction and mental health. They've been recognized for songs they submitted to the national Teens Make Music competition, hosted by California charity MusiCares. McMains' and Bond's song won first place andContinue reading "Salem teens head to 61st Annual Grammy Awards for songs about addiction, mental health"

Oregon is seeing more students graduate high school, with increases across the board regardless of demographics. More than 78 percent of all eligible high schoolers in Oregon graduated in four years in 2017-18, according data released by the Oregon Department of Education. This is a 2-percentage-point increase from the previous year and brings Oregon the closest it has been in recent historyContinue reading "Oregon graduation rates up across the board, Salem-Keizer sees some drops"

The state of Oregon has denied hundreds of children with disabilities the opportunity to attend the full day of school they are entitled to by federal law. That's the claim of a federal class-action lawsuit filed Jan. 22 in the Oregon U.S. District Court. Officials filed the lawsuit on the first day of the 2019 Legislative session,Continue reading "Special ed lawsuit against Oregon ed dept., Gov Brown filed by disability rights advocates"

Oregon educators, advocates and lawmakers have been trying to make food more accessible in schools for years, from expanding the time of day students can be served breakfast to streamlining the process for parents to pay for reduced-priced meals so a student is never turned away. For the 2019 legislative session, which starts Jan. 22, several Oregon legislators wantContinue reading "Oregon lawmakers want more school meal options, federal changes may limit them"