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Since 2015, the Portland Public Schools has had a "float" in the Pride Portland events - a yellow PPS bus!  As a welcoming, inclusive school district, we proudly affirm and stand with our LGBTQ+ students, staff and families.

This year Pride events are on Saturday, June 17. The parade kicks off at 1 p.m. and the entire PPS community is welcome to participate! Students, staff, Board of Public Education members and families can all come march with PPS in the parade, and either walk in front of the bus or ride the bus! Wear your PPS gear if you have some – from any school – to represent PPS.

At its June 6 meeting, the Portland Board of Public Education approved the appointments of the following administrators: Jake Giessman as principal of Deering High School; Alyson Dame as Deering High School assistant principal; Priya Natarajan as assistant principal of Casco Bay High School; Amy Marx as principal of King Middle School; and Terry Young as principal of Talbot Community School. The appointments are effective July 1.

Following a nationwide search, the Portland Board of Public Education has selected Dr. Ryan Scallon, currently an assistant superintendent in the School District of Philadelphia, to become the next superintendent of the Portland Public Schools. Scallon, who holds a doctorate degree in education, was one of two finalists for the position. The Board is scheduled to vote on Scallon’s appointment at its June 6 meeting. His official start date will be July 1.

The district’s sixth annual Seal of Biliteracy Ceremony was held on May 17 at Deering High School. As Maine’s largest and most diverse school district, the Portland Public Schools is very proud of initiating this award. There were 66 Seal recipients this year – 40 percent more than last year and the most since the award began.

After a nationwide search, the Portland Board of Public Education has narrowed the pool of applicants for the position of superintendent of the Portland Public Schools down to two finalists. They are Eric Moore, currently senior advisor to the superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools, and Dr. Ryan Scallon, who is an assistant superintendent in the School District of Philadelphia. Scallon holds a doctorate degree in education and Moore is on track to earn his doctorate in education later this year.

Now that the field has been narrowed down, key stakeholders, including members of the Portland Board of Public Education, staff, students, parents and other community members, will interview them on May 17 and 18. The interviews with students, parents and community members will be live-streamed and recorded for public viewing.

Casco Bay High School teacher Matt Bernstein, who is Maine’s 2023 Teacher of the Year, went to the White House April 24, joining other state teachers of the year from across the country for a recognition ceremony with President Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Watch a YouTube video of the event.

On Thursday, April 27, the City Council’s Finance Committee voted unanimously to recommend the Portland Board of Public Education’s $143.8 million school budget for the 2023-2024 school year to the full City Council. Members of that Council committee praised the collaborative way the district and Board worked with councilors to craft the FY24 budget and said they appreciated the efforts to meet student and staff needs while reining in costs.

On April 24, the Portland Board of Public Education presented its recommended $143.8 million school budget for the 2023-2024 school year to the City Council. Board Chair Sarah Lentz and Interim Co-Superintendents Aaron Townsend and Melea Nalli, who jointly made the presentation, told the Council that the budget is a fair and responsible one at a time of daunting fiscal challenges. “This budget reinvests in core operations such as finance and human resources, while also investing in student-facing staff to support all of our students, including our many newly arrived multi-language learners,” they said. “Within this budget, we’ve also done our best to anticipate and plan for the FY25 budget, when the district will no longer have access to federal COVID money and will likely face decreased funding from the state level. This budget does all that while simultaneously being mindful of the tax burden on Portland residents in a year when inflation is higher than most can remember.”

The Portland Board of Public Education voted unanimously on April 11 to approve a $143.8 million FY24 school budget to recommend to the City Council. The Board’s budget will enable the district to maintain its Portland Promise gains for the 2023-2024 school year, support students and staff and improve operational effectiveness, while being cognizant of Portland taxpayers. The Board will present its recommended budget to the City Council on April 24. The Council will vote on the school budget in May and send it to voters on June 13.

Portland and Deering high schools on April 4 announced the hiring of a new head field hockey coach for the district’s co-op team: Kristin Rogers.

Each year, Maine high school principals nominate one senior from their schools to receive an MPA Principal’s Award. The award, sponsored by the Maine Principals' Association, is given in recognition of a high school senior's academic achievement and good citizenship.The 2023 MPA Principal’s Award winners from the Portland Public Schools’ three high schools are: Abdullah Alzamilli, at Portland High School, selected by Principal Sheila Jepson; Anja Franck at Deering High School, selected by Co-Principal and Interim Assistant Superintendent Dr. Abdullahi Ahmed; and Greta Holmes at Casco Bay High School, selected by Principal Derek Pierce.

The STEM Expo, put on each year by the Portland Public Schools in partnership with EnviroLogix, is back in person in 2023, for the first time since the pandemic. Also, the event is divided into three separate days this year – March 31, April 6 and April 13 – at the district’s high schools to make it easier for high school students to attend.

The Foundation for Portland Public Schools is thrilled to announce an anonymous donation of $250,000 to enrich music, visual, and performing arts experiences for students in the Portland Public Schools.

An “Art Class” exhibit, open March 31 – April 21 at the Portland Public Library’s Lewis Gallery, features artwork created by students from every Portland Public Schools high school and is student curated.

On March 18, Educators for a Multilingual Maine presented its 2023 Language Teacher of the Year award to Annemarie Orth, a Spanish teacher at Casco Bay High School and a world language specialist for the Portland Public Schools.

The $141.3 million Portland Public Schools superintendents’ recommended school budget for the 2023-2024 school year has three key priorities: It maintains the district’s commitment to its Portland Promise goals of Achievement, Whole Student and People – all centered on the fourth goal of Equity; is responsive to the needs of all students, especially students newly learning English; and improves operational effectiveness in such areas as finance and human resources. The FY24 budget balances challenging fiscal constraints, including a significant reduction in state aid and inflation, with increased costs to support staff and students, while being cognizant of taxpayers. It would increase the school portion of the tax rate by 7 percent, adding about $15.60 per month to the tax bill of the average homeowner.

The Portland Public Schools is proud that Casco Bay High School is featured in a new book titled “Schools of Opportunity: 10 Research-Based Models of Equity in Action.” The book focuses on schools that use equity-oriented practices that close opportunity gaps.

A Casco Bay High School sophomore has won a statewide essay competition about a teacher at the school who made a difference and a Casco Bay junior earned an Honorable Mention for his tribute to a former teacher at Ocean Avenue Elementary School.

Portland Public Schools educators at the high school, middle school and elementary level recently shared some examples of innovative humanities and English language arts (ELA) teaching and learning in our schools this year. Read on to learn more details.

Every January and April, Casco Bay High School pauses classes so students can engage in week-long, elective courses called intensives, in which students can study a topic in depth, all day, for five days. This January, the school offered a new intensive called “Casco Teaches.” It was designed to introduce students to the world of teaching and to the concept of teaching as a future profession

The Spinglass Management Group has completed its audit of the Portland Public Schools’ payroll practices and issued a report. The report reflects many of the payroll problems – with systems, staffing and processing – that the district has already shared since the beginning of its payroll issues this fall. The report also details significant strides the district has made to stabilize systems, enter into an agreement to outsource payroll functions, and increase payroll staffing. Additionally, it outlines the work the district continues to do to resolve outstanding concerns.

It was rescheduled three times due to bad weather, but Casco Bay High School seniors on Jan. 27 were finally able to successfully complete the school’s 10th annual “College March” –  a public affirmation of students’ higher education goals.

Casco Bay High School seniors’ 10th annual “College March” – a public affirmation of students’ higher education goals – has been rescheduled from the previously planned date of Jan. 20, 2022, due to a snowstorm. The new date for the event will be Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. The Portland community is encouraged to come out and cheer the students on!

Alma Advisory Group, the professional search firm that the Portland Board of Public Education hired last month to aid in the search for a new superintendent, met with the Board and the Superintendent Search Committee earlier this week. Alma made a presentation as it worked with the Board and the Search Committee to define the scope of the work, the search timeline and community engagement in the search process.

Following the Dec. 16 resignation of Superintendent Xavier Botana, effective this month, the Portland Board of Public Education at its Jan. 3 meeting appointed assistant superintendents Melea Nalli and Aaron Townsend to be interim co-superintendents until a new superintendent is selected by June. Dr. Abdullahi Ahmed, currently co-principal at Deering High School, will take on the role of interim assistant superintendent for the transition. The team will move fully into leadership after Jan. 13.