The Salem-Keizer School Board is considering a consequential slate of policies this evening.  Board members will discuss the factors Salem-Keizer Public Schools officials must consider when closing schools. They’ll also vote on new district safety requirements and student achievement goals.  SIGN UP: “I love and respect what Salem Reporter does for our community.” Salem Reporter covers the people, issues, and stories shaping our city. Stay connected to Salem. Subscribe today.  The safety policy will be the first time in nearly 20 years that the board has added an entirely new set of rules for the Salem-Keizer superintendent. Do you have questions about Salem-Keizer Public Schools? Are there education topics we should be covering? We want to hear from you. Contact reporter Eddy Binford-Ross: [email protected] or 503-400-5654. School closures  The school board will consider the next step in closing up to eight elementary schools: how district officials will decide which schools to shutter.  At the end of July, Superintendent Andrea Castañeda announced that the district would close schools to address declining enrollment — Salem-Keizer has approximately 5,000 fewer students enrolled today than in 2017.  This decline has centralized at the elementary level, leaving an increasing number of schools with unused classroom space. District officials anticipate that seven elementary schools will be operating at less than 60% student capacity this coming year, according to the Long Range Facilities Plan.  “We no longer need to operate 65 school sites,” Castañeda said during the closure announcement. “It is an opportunity for us to concentrate our resources.” Board members will discuss and hear public comment on the closure guidelines this evening before voting at the Sept. 8 board meeting. These guidelines will establish the criteria district officials must consider when deciding which schools to recommend for closure. As the policy stands, district officials must consider 10 factors including facility condition, current enrollment, future improvement costs, community input, transportation and geographic location.  Read it: School closure guidelines The guidelines also establish that the district cannot close schools without board approval. Once Castañeda proposes a slate of schools in early October, the board will hear public comment and vote on the list in December.  Safety policy The board is set to vote on Executive Limitation 13, which will address district safety and security. Because of the structure of the Salem-Keizer School Board, members do not have influence over day-to-day district operations, but they can pass rules that the superintendent cannot break.  This policy will be the first new executive limitation since the late 2000s.  “We have a great safety program, but we can continually improve, and one thing I think we found through this is we have no board guidance around safety,” said Chief Operating Officer Paul Odenthal at the Aug. 8 board retreat.  “This topic rises to the level of having its own standout executive limitation,” he continued.  EL-13 establishes that Salem-Keizer officials must maintain a system for identifying and addressing safety risks, have clear rules around reporting and communicating significant threats, ensure adequate training for staff, make information around safety procedures accessible to families and more.  Read it: Executive Limitation 13 – District Safety The executive limitation also calls for annual reporting of safety incidents to the board and public.   School Board Director Satya Chandragiri, who championed the policy, told Salem Reporter earlier this year that increasing transparency was a central part of his push. He added that he had not seen the district reporting sufficiently on fights or other safety concerns.  Student outcomes The board will also vote on their new student achievement goals, which go into effect for the 2027-28 school year. If the board approves the policy, the district will continue to focus resources on improving third-grade reading, sense of belonging and the percentage of freshmen on track to graduate, but would no longer prioritize increasing graduation rates. Instead, officials would turn to the percentage of students earning an Oregon Seal of Biliteracy, as well as eighth-grade math proficiency.  District officials walked back their proposal to remove attendance from the board’s goals following discussion at the Aug. 11 meeting. Only 56.9% of Salem-Keizer students attend school regularly.  Read it: Student achievement goals The district’s most aggressive efforts will be focused on their three highest priority outcomes: third-grade reading, eighth-grade math and ninth-grade on track to graduation.  Salem-Keizer students are below the state averages in all three.  The goals prioritize outcomes directly related to classroom instruction, such as reading and math, according to Jonathan McIlroy, Salem-Keizer’s executive director of strategy and analytics. “Districts are the sole people accountable for the quality of instruction in the classroom,” McIlroy told Salem Reporter. “There is nobody else accountable to that besides us and we can always get better.” PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Salem-Keizer School Board weighs new student outcome goals reducing focus on attendance, graduation rates School district to consider policy changes after families report gaps in safety oversight Contact reporter Eddy Binford-Ross: [email protected] or 503-400-5654. 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