March 2023 School Board Memo to District 3 Community

DATE: March 9, 2023 

TO: The District 3 Community

FROM: Julianne R. Opperman

RE: Recent Actions and Insights

This memo is to inform you about recent Portland School Board activity and the carrying out of policy in our schools. Let’s get started. 

New Teacher’s Advisory Committee

I’m excited to announce a Teacher’s Advisory Committee will be installed shortly. An ongoing dialog with the Teachers, the Administration and the School Board will complete the feedback loop about the effectiveness of policy. 

Change does take time. I started this process 2½ months ago when I sent a draft of my proposal to Chairperson Sarah Lentz.  Key goals of the proposal include the ability to:

• Foster constructive, positive and transparent interactions between the school administration and the teaching staff

• Provide valuable input and feedback about teaching and learning issues - bridge the gap between policies and actual best practices

• Make effective decisions in the best interest of all PPS students, teachers and stakeholders 

My listening sessions with PPS staff indicated a strong interest in a structure to develop communication and transparency between the Superintendent’s office and the classroom teachers. 

I met with Kerry Dowdy, President of the Portland Education Association (PAE), in late February to solicit the teacher union’s support of the TAC.  In early March, I met with Co-Superintendent Nalli and discussed the need for the TAC. Both agreed to work together to create a Teacher’s Advisory Council and I’m looking forward to knowing the details for the TAC to be in effect in the 2023-2024 school year. 

Budget Season

It’s budget season in the Portland Public Schools. There are over 6,500 students in Portland Public Schools which makes it a complex public school system.  In order to understand all the complexities of the PPS Schools’ Budget I’m asking questions and seeking more information about current staffing across the district and projected staffing needs.  It has been difficult to get answers. 

What I can tell you is staff salaries and benefits encompass about 80% of the PPS budget. Here is a document from the February Budget Workshop that speaks to Ratio Based Staffing.  If we truly want to Improve Student Outcomes we need effective student to teacher ratios and appropriate support staff. 

In addition to the classroom needs, the basic operations of the school system require strong Human Relations, Finance, Technology and Operations support staff as described at the March 7th workshop.

Next year, 2023 -2024, is the school year in which state funding for Essential Programs and Services has been cut by two million dollars. We have no choice but to continue to provide that programming to qualify for funding from those sources.  

Inflation is not only affecting Portland taxpayers but it is increasing expenses in food services, teaching materials, fuel, and basic supplies.  

I also know that the American Rescue Plan Act funds were used to cover regular staffing costs such as custodians; pay down debt; and expand programming. The custodial costs will revert back to the school general fund and be included in the budget.

The debt service on bonds offered by the city for the schools is a constant in the budget. Big expenses such as school buses and major school infrastructure costs are funded through these bonds with the City of Portland overseeing them. 

My bias is to minimize taxes but the loss of state funds, the re-assignment of custodial expenses back to the operations budget and above average inflation make me wonder if there is no other option than a tax increase. And, this assumes we cut back on some of the expanded programming with no longer available funds from the American Rescue Plan.  

Information Roadblocks

My desire to understand the state of the PPS current finances has been hitting a wall. The issue appears to go back to at least 2019 when the PPS Board required Central Office to make personnel cuts and the Superintendent chose to cut operations staff (per Councilor Rodriguez).

This decision apparently led to the payroll fiasco and now the finance staff is overwhelmed. The end result is the School Board Operations, Personnel and  Finance Committee (OPF)is not getting ongoing financial information. 

The OPF Committee has not had a finance update this calendar year.  Policy states that the Committee receives a statement monthly, and the full Board receives one quarterly. Without this information the Committee has not been able to identify the cost to the School District of the payroll  legal, technology and fines. The longer it takes for us to see the information the more limited our options. 

I will continue to request information and hope the answers will be forthcoming. Getting to know the financial status should not require using the Freedom of Information Act.

Rowe School Visit

I was honored to visit Amanda Rowe Elementary School on March 2 to participate in Read Across America.  Ms. Green’s First Grade Class was engaging and inquisitive as I read two books by Jan Brett, The Mitten and The Snow Bears. We have a very bright group of young people that will be wonderful adults when we provide them with a comprehensive, challenging experience in the Portland Public Schools.