Reporter Rachel Alexander here - I'll be live-tweeting as Salem Reporter from tonight's @salem-keizer school board meeting, which starts at 6pm. Can't promise to stick it out if public comment lasts nine hours, but I'll do my best.

Watch along here: https://twitter.com/rachelwalexande/status/1275589287610703872

Alright, here we go. The full board is attending - everyone via video except Sheronne Blasi, who's on the phone. She's called for board chair Marty Heyen to step down, echoing some community leaders, including budget committee member Levi Herrera Lopez.

Heyen says she has a statement to make and Superintendent Christy Perry has a statement to make.

Heyen says board appreciates all the comments on school resource officers, but the board is only voting tonight on the full budget for the district.

“We value the youth of LUS who are initiative critical conversations about how to best keep our students safe," she says.

Heyen said board is committing to community engagement and dialogue over the summer to examine the best way to keep students safe in schools. Board Director Satya Chandragiri will be the board's rep in that process, she says.

Heyen now addressing the criticism she's received.

“The last couple weeks have been a lot for all of us. Each of us are experiencing pain,“ she says. "My pain is reactionary to the attacks toward me that feel unfair and unfounded.”

“I am not or have I ever been affiliated with any group who believes in the oppression of people of color," Heyen says, responding to criticisms from Latinos Unidos Siempre that she appeared with Three Percenters in a campaign photo. (We haven't independently verified that.)

Heyen said she has a renewed appreciation for kids bullied in school based on her experiences in recent days.

Heyen said she did not speak publicly about Director Paul Kyllo wearing the mask of a Black man during a March 30 meeting because board policies cover “not publicly criticizing or embarrassing each other."

Heyen closes saying she's quoting the NAACP (not clear from where/when): "Let's move forward."

Superintendent Christy Perry is now asking the school board to do better. They are her supervisors.

She said after police killed George Floyd, she emailed all staff challenging them to be antiracist. “I cannot sit quietly any longer," she says.

“My ability to keep the equity work moving means I must keep the real issues out of the boardroom," Perry tells the board. “The next day after board meetings I tell my team we are just going to show up the next day to do what’s right for our kids."

“Being antiracist is more about the adoption of an equity lens and using it as a hammer on the district staff," Perry says.

She's tearing up during this.

“I’ve tried to help you understand the experiences of students of color but you have discounted their experiences," Perry says.

Perry said finding a board member who's willing to read the Pride Month proclamation has been a challenge.

When they're asked to do equity training, “Our board members barely engage in the training”

As students of color have asked board to remove police from schools, Perry tells the board: “You centered every conversation about how we would get the people in the rooms who share you perspectives."

Perry challenges board to do antiracist work going forward.

Now board member Danielle Bethell is speaking.

"My door is always open and I will always come through it to hear you and learn from you," Bethell says.

She closes with: “I’m sad that we are where we’re are as a community and I’m willing to own any shortcomings or any shortsightedness that I have participated in because it’s not my intention."

Board vice chair Jesse Lippold now speaking saying he "accepts full responsibility" for the March 30 meeting, where Kyllo wore the mask.

"I should have noticed," Lippold says.

Kathy Goss, former board chair

“I do realize there are in some places racial problems and I would like to continue to help all of us be supportive of all kids. It doesn’t matter what color they are. I want to be supportive of that," she says.

Goss said she feels like Perry has painted the board with a broad brush. She said the board is made up of good-hearted people even if they don't always agree.

Goss said she doesn't understand calls for Heyen to step down. “I don’t understand why we’re all doing knee-jerk things to suddenly make things different. I am not interested in any more chaos. I think that’s terrible. We’re watching it around the country.”

Director Sheronne Blasi, who called on Heyen to resign, is speaking.

“As board members... we’re supposed to be focused on students and our communities and our schools... Even just listening this evening so much of the comments were about individuals.”

Blasi calls on board to stop being a distraction to the important work the district needs to do.

Director Satya Chandragiri now speaking.

Chandragiri is describing his childhood growing up in India immediately post-Partition. "It was very very difficult history I'm talking about."

"My goal is not to traumatize our community any more," Chandragiri says. Says current state mirrors his experience during Malheur Wildlife Refuge takeover, when he was working as a psychiatrist in Harney County.

If you're keeping track at home, we are nearly an hour into a school board meeting where 180 people want to address the board and the board members are still giving speeches.

Chandragiri is asking for forgiveness "if there has been some cultural misunderstanding" in his work. Also about how he cares about trauma-informed practices and fought to eliminate seclusion and restraint when he worked in state hospital.

"Thank you for challenging me. The ones who are challenging me are my greatest teachers," Chandragiri said.

For those of you who don't normally watch school board, this sort of speech is pretty common when any issue related to school climate, discipline, racism etc comes up.

Chandragiri has now been speaking for 12 minutes. There are 184 people signed up for public comment.

Heyen is now trying to interrupt Chandragiri to move the meeting on. He is talking over her.

"I needed a forum to speak so I don't get caught up in this dualistic notion of us and them," Chandragiri said.

Now we're on to public comment. One hour into meeting. Nothing has been voted on.

Based on my texts and replies/QTs to this thread I'm getting the sense not a lot of people watch school board meetings regularly, so I will say as a reporter who watches pretty much all of them (either in person or after the fact) - this is all pretty typical.

Okay, Raul Marquez Guerrero is our first public comment - live call. He's a recent McKay grad who ran unsuccessfully against Heyen for her seat in 2019.

"The school to prison pipeline is very real and is disproportionately impacts Black and brown students," he says.

"Not only have you failed to listen to them but you have invalidated their experiences and their presence at meetings. Shame on you," he says.

He calls on Kyllo and Heyen to resign.

Marquez Guerrero said Heyen's ties to anti immigrant groups are undeniable.

Next comment from Shelaswau Crier.

Crier is a community activist and former Willamette law professor. She's echoing Raul, she says, urging the board to remove school resource officers.

"Divest the funding that is allocated for SROs in our budget" and reallocate toward supporting students of color

Crier is calling out Heyen for quoting the NAACP letter saying "let's move on" from the black mask Kyllo wore.

If you want to listen to the NAACP, she says, then listen and get cops out of schools like we've asked for for years.

(I am gonna start drafting a story so may tweet less.)