Cabinet

• Student Services
• Special Education, Counseling
• K-12 Education
• Elementary & Secondary Education Curriculum
• Cabinet Member

Jim Orth, Director of Career and Technical Education (CTE) for Salem-Keizer Public Schools (SKPS), has been named interim assistant superintendent for the district. He will be taking over a number of the responsibilities previously held by Kelly Carlisle, who retired from the district over the summer. Orth has worked in education for nearly 30 years, serving as a classroom teacher, principal and since 2014, the director of CTE for SKPS. Orth will fulfill this interim assistant superintendent role until a permanent assistant superintendent is named, at which time he’ll resume his role with CTE.

503-399-3002

• Financial Services
• Facilities & Planning (Facility Rentals)
• Auxiliary Services
• Safety & Risk Management
• Food & Nutrition Services
• Transportation
• Cabinet Member

Michael Wolfe has served as the chief operations officer since July 2010. Michael comes to SKPS after serving as the executive vice president of administrative services at Mt. Hood Community College. Michael has extensive government experience at the state and federal levels. He was deputy director of statewide project delivery at the Oregon Department of Transportation and served in the US Air Force and in the Oregon Army National Guard. He is married and has two children.

503-399-3021

• • Student Achievement
  • Elementary Programming and Initiatives
  • MTSS
  • PBIS
  • Elementary Curriculum and Instruction
  • District Equity Team
  • Parent Complaints
  • Executive Cabinet

Kraig Sproles joined Salem-Keizer in October of 2018. Kraig has been a K12 educator and administrator for almost 20 years, most recently as the Principal of South Shore Elementary School in Albany, Oregon. He began his education career as a School Improvement Coordinator at Gilbert Heights Elementary School in the David Douglas School District in Portland, Oregon, and has been a Principal at three elementary schools during his career. For the bulk of his career, he has worked in Title IA schools with large populations of English Language Learners, with a focus on equitable educational opportunities.

503-399-3002

• District News
• Press Room
• Communications
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • Vimeo
• Cabinet Member

Lillian Govus, APR has served as the Director of Community Relations and Communications since August 2017. Lillian comes to SKPS after having led communications for two large urban school districts in North Carolina and Georgia, and most previously served as the Director of Communications with the City of Atlanta. Lillian is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and began her career in the same city as a reporter with the News & Record, a mid-size daily newspaper.

503-399-3038

• Secondary Curriculum & Instruction

Gweneth began her career in Salem-Keizer in 2005 as a French Teacher at North Salem High School, and followed by teaching French and AVID at Sprague High from 2008-2012. She then served as the Literacy Instructional Coach at McKay High School and next as the Assistant Principal at Straub Middle School in West Salem. Since moving to the Central Office in 2015, Gwen served as Coordinator of K-12 Curriculum, Professional Learning, and Library Media before shifting focus as the Director of Secondary Curriculum and Instruction. In this role, Gwen oversees the improvement of instruction and its relationship to best curricular practices in all content areas, as well as the Program Associates of Language Arts, Math, and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support at the Secondary Level.

Gwen graduated with Honors from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities with Bachelor’s Degrees in Art History and French, followed by a certificate in French from Université Laval in Québec, Canada. She completed her Master’s degree in Education with an emphasis on Teaching for Social Justice from the University of Oregon in 2005 and continues to complete additional graduate level work at Portland State.

503-399-3061

• Elementary Curriculum
• Math
• English Language Arts
• English Language Development
• Response to Intervention
• Professional Learning Title II A
• The Office of Behavioral Learning
• Cabinet Member

On June 27, Olga Cobb accepted the role as one of three Directors of Elementary Education for Salem-Keizer Public Schools (SKPS).
Cobb began her career with SKPS in 2000 as a bilingual instructional assistant before becoming a community school outreach coordinator. She was also a school office specialist and then a grant coordinator.

Cobb served as principal at both Highland Elementary School and Chávez Elementary School for a total of 11 years. She was a commissioner with the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission for five years and led the teacher preparation partnership between Chávez Elementary and two universities in the Salem-Keizer area for the past six years.

Before working for SKPS, Cobb worked as a middle and high school teacher and as an adjunct faculty member at Chemeketa Community College. She received her bachelor’s degree from the Universidad Del Valle in Colombia and a master’s degree from Portland State University.

As a director of elementary education, Cobb will provide leadership to elementary school principals as they develop programs to help students reach benchmarks and higher state standards. She will also assist schools in boundary changes, provide leadership to the K-12 Progress Report Process, assist in the principal hiring process, meet with communities to explain and interpret matters relating to programs or district operations and much more.

Cobb resides in Keizer with her husband Nolan and their daughter, an SKPS student.

503-399-2632

• AVID/College & Career Readiness
• Secondary Curriculum
• Career Technical Education
• Professional Learning Title II A
• The Office of Behavioral Learning

Larry Ramirez, Director of High School Education, has been serving the district for the past three years.  Prior to coming to Salem-Keizer School District, Larry was a high school principal and migrant director in Nyssa, OR.  He is a graduate from Oregon State University, Eastern Oregon University and Lewis and Clark.  Larry is married and his two kids that attend elementary school in the district.

503-399-2636

• Special Education and Section 504
• Counseling

Eric Richards has 35 years of Executive/Administrative experience focused and the rights and aspirations of children and adults with disabilities and their families.  He served as Executive Director of non-profit organizations in Michigan, Iowa, and Nebraska (1983-2002) before moving to Oregon to become Director of Operations in the Oregon Department of Education’s Office of Special Education (2002-June 2010).  He then served as Student Services Coordinator and Assistant Director of Student Services for Salem-Keizer School District 24J from July 2010 to June 2016, and has been Director of Student Services for Salem-Keizer School District 24J since July 2016.

503-399-3101

• Elementary Curriculum & Instruction

Suzanne West joined Salem-Keizer in August of 2016. Suzanne has been a K12 educator and administrator for more than 10 years, most recently as the Principal of Swegle Elementary School in Salem, Oregon. She began her education career as a secondary teacher of English, Social Studies, and ELD, with added experience as a teacher mentor, instructional coach, assistant principal, technology director, and university professor. Suzanne has committed herself to education and is an advocate for equitable educational outcomes.

503-399-2637