Image of the front exterior of South Salem High School. Photo taken by Zoey Keele
The minds of many Salem-Keizer community members have pondered the same thought throughout the past weeks: academic budget cuts. The presence of said thoughts is due to the discussion of the annual budget, specifically the budget for 2024-2025. Moreover, the driving factor behind this discussion is that the Salem-Keizer School District will have to cut approximately 38 million dollars from the budget for the following year. Retroactively, this was not an issue because the district received funding as relief from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meetings regarding new academic policies and budget cuts occurred at each Salem-Keizer school, excluding Roberts High School. These six meetings took place during the 15 days between October 23 and November 7. These policies are regarding the following metrics: regular attendance rate, third graders reading at grade level, ninth graders on track to graduate high school, four-year cohort graduation rate and student sense of belonging for students. Additional information is available on the district website.
However, since not all community members could attend the meeting, an online survey was created. Parents and students received the survey via the ParentSquare and StudentSquare apps. In addition, it is not exclusive to parents and students as it is also for any willing community member. The survey is available until November 22, 2023.
