Cabinet

What is the Salem-Keizer Public Schools cabinet?

The cabinet is comprised of the superintendent, assistant superintendents and department directors.

What does the cabinet do?

The cabinet is an advisory body to the superintendent that meets each week and collaborates to ensure Salem-Keizer Public Schools achieves Our Vision: All students graduate and are prepared for a successful life.

24J Executive Administration Organization Chart

24J Executive Administration Organization Chart

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Salem-Keizer School District’s Strategic Plan

District Strategic Plan page

Equitable student outcomes

Visit the Strategic Plan page for more details and downloads!

Executive Administration Members

Christy Perry

Christy Perry

Superintendent

Christy Perry is superintendent of Salem-Keizer Public Schools, the second largest school district in Oregon. She has extensive experience in education, having served as a superintendent in Oregon for more than a decade, with added experience as a director of human resources, elementary school principal, university instructor, and 5th and 6th grade teacher. She has devoted herself to education and is a relentless advocate for achievement for all students.

Learn more about Christy Perry

503-399-3001

Contact the Superintendent
Iton Udosenata

Iton Udosenata

Assistant Superintendent, Secondary

Iton Udosenata is a native Oregonian, and began his career in education in South Central Los Angeles in 2004. He returned to Oregon in 2006, leading a high school alternative education program before serving as a social studies teacher at Thurston High School for five years. Since then, he has held numerous positions including assistant principal at Willamette High School, principal at Cottage Grove High School and most recently serving as principal at North Eugene High School, which has experienced significant gains in graduation rates under his leadership.

503-399-3002

Contact the Assistant Superintendent for Secondary
Olga Cobb

Olga Cobb

Assistant Superintendent, Elementary

Olga Cobb has been a long-time familiar face in SKPS. Starting in 2000, Cobb began as a bilingual instructional assistant before moving into the role of community school outreach coordinator, school office specialist and grant coordinator. Olga has served as a district leader working for 11 years as principal at Highland and Chávez and leading the teacher preparation partnership between Chávez Elementary and two Salem-Keizer area universities.

Prior to being named assistant superintendent in 2021, Cobb served as a director of elementary education, providing leadership to elementary school principals on programs that help students learn and thrive.

Olga is equity focused in thinking and practice and centers her leadership on care and connection for students, families and community.

503-399-3002

Contact the Assistant Superintendent for Elementary
Bob Silva Portrait

Robert Silva

Chief Operations Officer

Robert Silva is the chief operations officer at Salem-Keizer Public Schools. As the COO, he serves in the critical role of forming and executing strategic and operational agendas while implementing and maintaining equitable, crucial and quality services throughout the district.

Bob has served in educational leadership roles for more than 24 years and brings a proven ability of strategic planning, running large operations and proactively discerning and responding to the needs of SKPS families with a focus on equity and customer service. He served as the director of Technology and Information Services at SKPS for five years prior to working at his current position.

503-399-3036

Contact the Chief Operations Officer
John Beight

John Beight

Executive Director, Human Resources

John Beight has served as the Executive Director of Human Resources since July of 2015. John comes to SKPS after having served as the Director of Human Resources for the Tigard-Tualatin School District and Associate Director of Human Resources for the North Clackamas School District. He has worked as a school psychologist, teacher, coach and special education administrator. John graduated from Linfield College and Minnesota State University Moorhead and completed additional graduate coursework at Portland State University. He is married and has four children.

503-399-3061

Contact the Executive Director of Human Resources
Suzanne West

Suzanne West

Director, Strategic Initiatives

Suzanne West has been named as the new director of strategic initiatives. Suzanne serves a key role in crafting and developing strategies that support the district’s movement to become a more anti-racist and anti-oppresive school system. Suzanne joined Salem-Keizer in August of 2016. She has been a K-12 educator and administrator for more than 15 years and previously served as the Director of Elementary Curriculum and Instruction. Suzanne has committed herself to education and is an advocate for equitable educational outcomes.

503-399-3002

Contact the Strategic Initiatives Director

Cabinet Members

Lizi Aguilar-Nelson

Lizi Aguilar-Nelson

Director, Elementary Education

Lizi Aguilar-Nelson started her career with Salem-Keizer Public Schools 32 years ago as a bilingual instructional assistant. In 1994, she became a bilingual teacher working at Grant, Swegle, and Lee Elementary schools. After teaching in the classroom, she worked as an English language coach and became a certified GLAD and ELD trainer. After receiving her administrative license, she began her administrative career as the principal of Richmond Elementary and served that community for eight years. Aguilar-Nelson moved to Liberty Elementary and served as a principal for five years. She also served two years as the principal at Keizer Elementary. Aguilar-Nelson is committed to strong and robust instruction for all students while building partnerships with all stakeholders.​​​​​​​

503-399-2632

Contact the Directors of Elementary Education
Matthew Biondi

Matthew Biondi

Director, Middle School Education

Matt Biondi, started with the district in 1998 as a social studies teacher at North Salem High School.  He later became an assistant principal at North Salem, South Salem and McKay high schools before becoming the principal at Stephen Middle School in 2011.  In 2015, he became the Middle Schools Director.  Matt graduated with honors from Oregon State University and from the Navy ROTC program.  He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps and served in that capacity for 4 years before pursuing his MAT and teaching certificate.  He is married to Joy and he has 3 children.

503-399-2636

Contact the Director of Middle School Education
Gweneth Bruey-Finck

Gweneth Bruey-Finck

Director, 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

Contact the Director of Secondary Curriculum & Instruction
Eric Richards

Melissa Glover

Director, Student Services

Melissa Glover has worked in education for nearly 15 years, serving as a special education teacher, an educational specialist for the Oregon Department of Education and has shared her skills and passion for student success at SKPS since 2015. In addition to her work for the district, for the past three years Melissa has served as an adjunct instructor in the special education graduate program at Western Oregon University.

503-399-3101

Contact the Director of Student Services
Sara LeRoy

Sara Leroy

Director, Elementary Education

Sara Leroy was born and raised in Salem. She was principal at North Salem High for three years, and previously served as both principal and assistant principal at McKay High. In 2000, Sara started her teaching career in San Diego, CA, teaching middle and high school. Sara began her career in Salem-Keizer in 2003 as an English teacher at North Salem High.

503-399-2632

Contact the Directors of Elementary Education
Larry Ramirez

Larry Ramirez

Director, High School Education

Larry Ramirez, Director of High School Education, has been serving the district for the past six 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

Contact the Director of Secondary Curriculum
Cynthia Richardson

Cynthia Richardson

Director, Student Equity, Access and Advancement

Cynthia Richardson joined Salem Keizer Public Schools in August 1997. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of North Texas, a master’s degree from the University of Texas at Tyler and has completed course work towards a doctorate at the University of Oregon. Cynthia has served as an educator in Texas, Nebraska, and Oregon for the past 43 years. Her career includes serving as a high school teacher, Administrative Assistant of Student Services, assistant principal at the middle school and high school levels, and an elementary principal. In Salem, she served as principal of Adam Stephens Middle School and was the first African American high school principal in Salem at McKay High School (7 years) and North Salem High School (7 Years). Currently, she serves as the Director of Student Equity, Access, and Advancement for Salem Keizer Public Schools. Ms. Richardson implemented AVID and Small Learning Communities at McKay High School in Salem Keizer School District.

Ms. Richardson was the 2012 recipient of the Educator of the year award for the Oregon Black Educator Association and the 2013 NAACP Pioneer Award recipient. Ms. Richardson is currently serving on two Oregon Department of Education committees, the African American / Black Student Success Plan Advisory Committee, and the Oregon Educator Advisory Group. The Governor of Oregon appointed her to the Fair, Dismissal, and Appeals Committee in 2016. She was also appointed to the Governor’s Racial Justice Council where she serves as the chairperson for the Education Recovery Committee. Cynthia is also serving as the Assistant Secretary to the Tri-State Conference NAACP (AOWSAC). She is a lifetime PTA member and the first female Deacon in the seventy-year history of People’s Church.

503-399-3001

Contact the Director of Student Equity, Access and Advancement
Teresa Tolento

Teresa Tolento

Director, Elementary Curriculum & Instruction

Teresa Tolento was born in California and is the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants. Teresa began her career in Salem-Keizer in 1994, shortly after moving to Salem. She has worked for SKPS for more than 27 years and has worked in various capacities, including instructional assistant, bilingual teacher, English language acquisition specialist, literacy program associate and more recently principal at Grant and Chávez Elementary schools. Teresa has also worked as an adjunct professor at Western Oregon University helping teachers acquire their bilingual and ESOL endorsement. She believes in the power of culturally relevant instruction and welcomes the opportunity to continue the curriculum work in pursuit of equitable outcomes for all students.

503-399-2637

Contact the Director of Elementary Curriculum & Instruction
Kevin Walker

Kevin Walker

Director, Elementary Education

Kevin Walker joined the team at SKPS in August 2021. Kevin most served as principal of Rosa Parks Elementary School for Portland Public Schools. He has a long track record of creating strong relationships with stakeholders, seeking out the perspectives of others and building bridges with community members. During his time in PPS, Kevin’s focus on instruction, particularly around closing opportunity gaps through culturally responsive standards-based, data-driven instruction, helped accelerate student growth.

503-399-2632

Contact the Directors of Elementary Education