The Good
The Portland school budget has some good stuff in it.
Adult Education
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The Bad
The Portland school budget has some bad stuff in it.
The Foundation for Portland Public Schools
Executive Director is Paid for by the School Budget
The school department runs a private foundation to raise money outside the regulatory confines of the school bureaucracy for raising money to fund special projects. Their website lists the following mission statement:
Mission, Vision & Goals
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The Mission of the Foundation for Portland Public Schools is to be a catalyst for increased educational opportunities, achievement, and equity for all Portland Public Schools students and staff.
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FPPS’s Vision is to strengthen schools through community investment.
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FPPS’s Goals are educational enrichment, innovation and community engagement.
The 2023-2024 FPPS annual report, notes that they received a $129,189.00 contribution from the Portland school budget to fund the salary and benefits of the executive director. The executive director and the advancement coordinator work out of the central office and presumably make use of the resources afforded by the larger organization. This has presumably been the set up of the organization since its founding in 2016. FPPS And the Portland School’s then interim Superintendent, Melia Nalia signed a MOU on May 18, 2023 for FY 2024 to FY 2026 that makes no provision for this employment arrangement. Was the intent to end the PPS payment of the salary?
https://www.foundationforpps.org/about-us/annual-reports-990s
Portland Education Association President Salary is Paid for by the School Budget
The Portland Education Association is the Portland arm of the Maine teachers union (MEA). Their role is not to support education, but to support the teachers and advocate for their salary and benefits. Similarly to the FPPS Executive Director, the head of the PEA’s salary and benefits are paid for from the Portland school budget.
It is not separately outlined in the budget, so there is no known dollar amount, but it is likely to be over $100,000.
Diversity, Equity and Belonging Department Costs over $300,000
The first question one has to asks, is why does this supposedly already diverse school district even need this department. All of the stuff they are doing should be happening organically without the need for this expensive infrastructure.
This department has three staff members, an Executive Director of Equity and Belonging, an Induction, Mentoring and Certification Coordinator and a Student Equity Officer (Title IX Coordinator). I will note that the department title does not match the job title and it initialization is DEB, not DEI. The school’s website has dropped “Diversity” from the department’s title.
T hat website describes the school’s policy on equity on the department’s main page. This policy is under review by the school board and is expected to be modified to remove the parenthetical at the end of the last sentence.
This department’s budget is apparently part of the Human Resources department budget so it not broken out in the budget.
The Ugly
The Portland school budget has some really bad stuff in it.
Cliff Island School
There are about 60 voters on Cliff Island (an eight mile boat ride from downtown Portland), not all of whom live there year around. There does not appear to be any tally anywhere of how many people actually live on Cliff Island year around. What we do know is that the school department has two to three students that they serve on the island (the school’s enrollment projection for October 2025 is two students). The Casco Bay ferry take one to two hours to get there one way. Anecdotally, I have learned that there may be older students taking a boat from Cliff Island to Portland for school and that the ferry schedule is aligned for this anomaly. The Chebeague Island School is just a two and half mile ferry ride and the morning ferries stops at Chebeague first so that they can go directly back to Portland after. This could be switched to accommodate students going to the Chebeague Island School. This would cost about $10,000 per year per student.
The School Department has budgeted $172,963 to run this school for a projected two students next school year. They are also showing that there are two students this year.
The budget book’s description of the school and budget detail:
Cliff Island School (3 students)
Teacher Leader: Kelly Hasson
Address: 20 Church Road, PO Box 8, Cliff Island, ME 04019
Cliff Island School offers a unique, personalized educational experience tailored to its small student body. Located on Cliff Island, the school integrates the island's natural surroundings into its curriculum, providing hands-on learning opportunities. The close-knit community ensures individualized attention, fostering strong relationships between students, staff, and residents. Emphasis is placed on experiential learning, allowing students to engage deeply with their environment and community.
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Unknown Medical Benefits Increase
The March 3, 2025 budget proposal accounted for a probable 6% increase in medical benefit costs for all staff are managed by the MEA Trust, an offshoot of the Maine teachers union.
Just seven days after the budget proposal was released, the superintendent advised the Finance Committee of a significant development in his assumptions in developing that budget.
There is a potential for the increased cost of the medical benefits to increase by 18% as opposed to the originally projected 6%, which would be a $1.3 million hit on the budget. His description of the problem are at the 21 minute marks in the March 10, 2025 meeting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IxOc2lLZzM&t=2434s&ab_channel=PortlandPublicSchools%2CMaine
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