Salem-Keizer administrators canceled Friday classes this week due to a district-wide “crisis-level staffing shortage”.
School districts across the nation have been experiencing a bus driver shortage and are now suffering from high student absence rates and a lack of staff members due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19 which has accelerated the spread of the virus. On Tuesday, the Oregon Health Authority reported more than 8,000 new COVID cases across the state and at the end of last week, 10% of all licensed Salem-Keizer employees requested a substitute.
District administrators hope that a day off, which they call a “non-student contact day,” will help to slow the spread of the virus and give absentees a chance to rest. “[The day off] creates maybe a little breather for kids and staff who are sick and trying then to be well-prepared into next week.” Superintendent Christy Perry said in an interview with Salem Reporter.
Grab N Go meals will be available on Friday from 11 am-1 pm at various school sites and Saturday school will still take place from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm the next day. After Martin Luther King Day on Monday, classes will resume on Tuesday as an “A” day for South students.
