K. RAMBO
Albany public school students will no longer be greeted by police officers on the first day of school after some students and their families expressed fear and anxiety because of the officersâ presence last week.
Rumors circulating on social media prompted Melissa Goff, superintendent of Greater Albany Public Schools, to release a statement Wednesday addressing the district s decision to discontinue the tradition. Goff said the lack of officers assigned to campuses, often called school resource officers or SROs, is unrelated to the decision and was a result of shortfalls in Albany s city budget and staffing challenges in the Albany Police Department.
GAPS puts pause on police officers welcoming students on their first day
Some parents expressed their disapproval on social media saying the district made a bad decision to keep police officers away from campus.
Posted: Apr 8, 2021 12:41 AM
Posted By: Connor McCarthy
ALBANY, Ore. Greater Albany Public Schools announced Wednesday they are putting a pause on having police officers welcome students on their first day back to school.
Superintendent Melissa Goff said in a statement this decision comes after some parents raised concerns they had with police officers on campus. She said the pause is to make all students feel welcome and included at their schools. However, Goff said firefighters will still be allowed to welcome students.
GAPS students return to classrooms gazettetimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gazettetimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Schools around the state are expected to offer in-person learning to elementary students by March 29 and to middle and high school students by mid-April, and on Monday, the Oregon Department of Education released updated guidance on what that might look like.
The latest guidelines from ODE come on the back of Gov. Kate Brownâs announcement that all schools must offer in-person learning for all students by April 19, ending a yearlong closure of classrooms.
Locally, Corvallis, Albany, Lebanon, Sweet Home and Philomath school districtsâ own reopening plans already fell in line with the governorâs timeline for the most part, with a few districts tweaking their schedules to comply without much fanfare.
CAITLYN M. MAY
When criminal justice major Vanessa Cisneros popped into the Zoom meeting meant to educate the Linn-Benton Community College staff and community on the challenges Latino students have faced, she first had to offer an apology.
She was stationed in her living room in front of her computer, and her 7-year-old daughter paraded back and forth behind her while her toddler pulled and tugged his way into her lap, demanding a story.
âI have kids, and itâs chaotic,â Cisneros said. âJust ignore the noise.â
Itâs not unlike the experience of any working mother over the last year juggling online learning and working from home.