Salem-Keizer's seven school board members will spend five hours Tuesday, Oct. 20, in a special session devoted entirely to the proposal to close six elementary schools.
The meeting at 2575 Commercial St. SE runs from 4 to 9 p.m. At least two hours are reserved for board discussion and two hours for public comment, Superintendent Andrea Castañeda said at a community listening session on Oct. 15, as first reported by Salem Reporter.
It marks a sharp contrast with the Oct. 13 board meeting, where members collectively discussed the closures for only 22 minutes. Some board members did not speak at all.
The six schools on the closure list are Brush College, Candalaria, Cummings, Englewood, Liberty and Richmond. If a board majority approves the proposal in December, the closures would take effect by fall 2027.
Why the district says closures are needed
Salem-Keizer has lost about 5,000 students since enrollment peaked in 2017. The district says that decline has left it with a growing number of underenrolled buildings and less state funding to operate them.
Castañeda told parents at Claggett Creek Middle School on Oct. 15 that the district cannot sustain all its current buildings. "Very soon, as in within months, we will be forced to make very painful decisions about the amount of staffing support we can provide at our smallest school sites," she said.
Without closures, Castañeda has said the district would increase blended classrooms and cut support staff, including instructional assistants, behavioral specialists, reading interventionists and counselors, at the smallest schools.
The district's closure page says the plan would eliminate 332,000 square feet of underused space and avoid roughly $15 million in deferred maintenance costs at the six buildings. The district also faces a projected $46 million budget shortfall for the coming school year, according to OPB, though Castañeda has said the budget gap and the enrollment decline are separate issues.
Two board members back plan; 30-plus residents opposed it Oct. 13
Board member Satya Chandragiri has called consolidation "necessary." Board member Krissy Hudson said at the Oct. 13 meeting that the board must be "responsible stewards of public money." Hudson had been the sole dissenting vote when the board adopted its school closure criteria in September.
At that same Oct. 13 meeting, more than 30 people spoke during about two hours of public comment. Not one supported the closures, Salem Reporter reported.
How to participate
The sign-up deadline for in-person or virtual public comment was 3 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19. Residents who missed it can still attend in person or contact board members directly through the school board's website.
The meeting will be livestreamed on YouTube in both English and Spanish.
The district is also accepting applications for a Boundary Review Task Force until Wednesday, Oct. 21. The task force will help shape new attendance boundaries if closures are approved, with final boundary decisions expected in February 2027. The board's final vote on closures is scheduled for Dec. 8.
