001and Ali Ali. >> Remember Ali Ali >> here Ali >> here. >> Uh, Vice Chair Bondo, that's not working now. Vice Chair Bondo, Member Brighten, Member Lena here, >> Member No, Member Opriman >> here, >> member Sautell >> here, >> Student Representative Fitzgerald, Student Representative Cantiba, Student Representative Lee >> here, >> Student Representative O'Brien, Student Representative Ziggler, Chair Lent, present. Uh thank you. Uh and now the pledge of allegiance. >> To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Portland public schools recognizes the original inhabitants of the land on which our city and schools stand. The Wulis Tiguay or Maliset, Mcmmack, Ponobskot, and Pasimquati tribes known collectively as the Wabanaki Confederacy or people of the Dawnland.
002We are honored to have Wabanaki children among our students today. And as a district, we are committed to making the past, present, and future of Wabanaki peoples visible in our schools and classrooms. As a reminder of our mission, the Portland Public Schools is responsible for ensuring a challenging, relevant, and joyful education that empowers every learner to make a difference in the world. We build relationships among families, educators, and the community to promote the healthy development and academic achievement of every learner. And our definition of equity, equity is all people being held to high expectations and having access to opportunities that are reflective of their individual needs, identities, and experiences. Equity is achieved in Portland public schools when there are no identifiable differences in outcomes and experiences for any population subgroup. And now we're going to
003move on to public comment. So, if there's anyone in the room that would like to give public comment or if there's anyone in uh the internet or on Zoom, you can raise your Zoom hand. Just a couple more beats. Okay, I see no public comment. Um so, I'm gonna go ahead and move on to my remarks. um they will be um short tonight. Um but I just wanted to remind people that polls are still open until 8:00. So if you're hearing my voice and you have not voted today, um please go ahead and uh do that. Um and also just wanted to thank all of the city uh staff, the clerks um and all of the uh volunteers that make all of our polling places work so seamlessly every year. Um, I'm uh very thankful
004to all of you. Um, and then I just wanted to highlight some um, uh, pretty cool things that are coming up in the district. Uh, musical theater, especially since we're going to be getting um, some brand new curtains around the district and lightboards and all kinds of things. Um, it's just exciting uh, to hear about productions that are coming up. So, these are the ones that I know about and student representative, if there are more that I don't name and you know them, please jump in. But we've got Peter Pan happening at King Middle School very soon. Um, we have Mama Mia here at Casco Bay High School. We've got Susicle the Musical happening at Portland High School in the spring. Yes. >> Uh, MMA Mia is at Dearing. So, I believe Casco Bay is
005doing the Adams family. >> I mean, this is why we have student representatives. Beautiful. Thank you so much. So, Mama Mia at Daring High School and then we have the Adams family here at Casco Bay. Um, and I Does anyone else know any other middle school productions that are happening yet? I can do some more research before we come back next. Okay. But those are exciting opportunities um to go and see uh our students performing and to support schools and the arts. Uh so just wanted to flag those for you. Um and then um uh finally I just wanted to thank all of the community members and teachers and students that came out to um our community engagement sessions that have happened over the last two months. It was really a robust um set of
006conversations uh that was transparent and candid and it really does um I said this multiple times but I really do believe that being in conversation with each other helps make our solutions stronger. Um, and so just thankful to everybody that uh came out to all of those. Um, and you're gonna talk about um Portland High School, correct? And their awards? I am. Okay, thank you. Um, yeah, Portland High School, their cross country teams did some pretty cool things. Um, the girls team won at states, which apparently hasn't happened in a really long time. Um, and the boys team came in second. So, uh, just congratulations to all of our students who are, uh, taking part in these, and I'm sure that we will have more to celebrate as the year goes on. So, with that,
007uh, I'm going to turn it over to the superintendent now. >> Good evening, everybody. It's great to be back, um, as I missed last week, um, attending a conference, but it's good to see everybody um, and to reconnect. Uh, I have a handful of just announcements and reminders. Uh first just I'll lead off with something that uh most of our students are looking forward to hearing is just a reminder that November 11th is a no school day. Um as it is a day to recognize and uh celebrate veterans and so there's no school on Tuesday the 11th. Uh our strategic plan guides our work and is something that we use at the board level to both set priorities and initiatives as well as to monitor progress. Our schools started the process of monitoring their own
008progress uh this week and so schools do step back meetings as well and the first I believe three were today um and will continue on for the next two weeks. So that's really an opportunity where schools are looking at their data uh to date and really digging in interrogating their data and seeing where they need to adjust their school plans as a result of progress over the first two months. A piece that's just worth recognizing is that with the federal government shutdown and the freeze in SNAP benefits um that will start to hit our community in the next two weeks. And one thing that I know was recognized last week, but I want to add my voice to is just an extreme amount of appreciation for the foundation, our social workers, our multilingual team who
009recognized the challenge that this poses for families in our district um and have not just admired the problem, but really stepped in to provide support where possible. Um and so just credit for that there is um a challenge, we're actually stepping in and our staff are stepping in to address that challenge and that gap. Um and so at this point uh the foundation is over $70,000 in uh gifts to make sure that families are supported. Um and so just a big thank you to our executive director for the foundation, our social workers who will be making sure that families in need get those services. uh or get that uh funding and support. Um just a big thank you for that. November 17th is high school preference forms. That's the due date for them. And so
010if you are in 8th grade right now, whether you're in Portland public schools or outside, just a reminder around November 17th getting in that high school preference form. If you need any support on that, please reach out to your schools, your school counselors to provide that support. And if you're outside and you have any need, uh, feel free to reach out to our central office team and we will help you complete that as it is due November 17th. Last, uh, while we're talking about rising, um, or future 9th graders there, just for our seniors, we have our FAFSA um, for financial aid night that is happening on November 19th. And so while our schools all have teams of counselors um that support this throughout the year um and especially in this season, we also have
011a night uh November 19th to help families who need that support um and or other information. So look out for that with your school. Uh that's my comments for tonight. Oh, just I always forget to do this, but just a reminder for the board um and for the public watching um we always post at the end of the superintendent comments the uh individuals who have separated from the district as well as hires that we want to make sure you're aware of but don't actually get voted on by the board. >> Thank you so much, Superintendent. Um uh up next we have our um hold on one second. My diligent community here is a little not synced. Yeah, my report of the secretary. Uh so uh we have up the consideration and action to approve the
012meeting minutes of October 28th, 2025. Are there any corrections uh to the meeting minutes? All right, seeing none, uh then the um minutes are approved as distributed. Um and then we're going to move on to um some old business which um we're waiting uh on your explanation. Um so go ahead, superintendent, and then we can conduct the vote. >> So I appreciate the board's flexibility on this and doing a first read last week and the second read tonight. Um tonight we're asking you to approve a contract with Barry Dunn to continue the work that has been happening to review Maine PERS's pension accounts. Um just as background and context for this and a reminder um when the payroll challenges happened in the 2223 school year. uh as we were reconciling and uh working through those
013issues, one of the things that was identified was that there were some historical errors in reporting of main pers uh earnings as well as service years. Um and so we contracted with Barry Dunn to uh partner with us uh with main pers as well and with our pea union. Um, and so Carrie Dowy is also at the table to go through a review of every employee that's worked with us since 1996 to make sure that they have accurate service credit and earnings at Mainpers so that when it comes time for them to retire uh that they're able to get full credit um on their pension that contract, we first did a contract last year at about the same time for $500,000 that the board approved and we are now in a spot where we need
014to renew it for the remainder of this year. Um and so this was budgeted. Um the ask in this contract is for about $370,000. And we're asking for that um so that we can continue the review of um corrections that are needed between 1996 and 2023. Um just it's worth noting um that we say this every time that it's not an issue where main pers did not have the funds or that there was um errors in that the funds have always been with main pers. This is just about correcting um and making sure that it's uh attributed to everybody in their right account. >> [gasps] >> Two things that were updated in this contract versus um the previous one is that the contract now includes language that requires that Barry Dunn review 100 accounts each
015week. And so they'd be able to get through approximately uh 5200 in a year. And then um the other piece is that there's a bunch of work that happened this year to help main pers with capacity to be able to quickly go from the report to entering the corrections into their account. And so there's language in there requiring that main pers maintain and continue to do that report that helps out mainers. And so tonight we are just asking for your approval for this contract that will run through the remainder of this fiscal year and then we will come back and ask you for another uh in June uh that will line up with fiscal year 27. >> Thank you. Um so we're going to go ahead and we will um uh bring this to the
016floor and then uh take a vote and there's uh space for discussions and questions within that process. So, um, uh, is there a motion for the consideration and action to approve the new Barry Dunn contract? Thank you, board member Opperman. Is there a second? Thank you, board member Brighten. Um, are there any questions uh from the board on the motion? Uh, board member Brighten, go ahead. >> Is my microphone working? No. Speak loudly though. Um, the home. >> No, the you Can you hear me now? Okay, super. Um, so my question has to do with um the assumption that there's going to need to be an additional contract. So, I mean, we had a contract and now we have another contract. Um, and I understand the complexity, but I would How close do you think
017we can realistically get within the scope of this contract that we're talking about right now? and how much is likely to be left over in June and are we able to put pressure on other entities to make the work happen as fast as it can? So, let's just put let's just do scale here for a second is probably the easiest way to do it. There's about 10,000 employees that worked for uh Portland Public Schools between April of 1996 and December of 2023. So that's the window within which we're talking about. Um there was a lot of work that had to happen in the initial setup and figuring out the review. And so a lot of this contract that we're just finishing went towards that. And so at this point there are 400 employees that have
018gone through a full review meaning Barry Dunn and main pers and are either corrected or in the process. And there's another 250 that uh Barry Dunn has reviewed but main pers has not yet reviewed. And so that means that that first one which again was a significant amount of initial work analysis got about 650 people through Barry Dunn. The new contract with the additional language requiring the hundred which would not have been possible in the early stages of this will mean that in a year they get through a little over 5,000. That means that we are looking at an additional year of this. Um there has been conversations around uh main pers capacity and their ability uh because it is really main pers capacity that is slowing this down as well as the fact that
019they just have antiquated software um that makes it complex for their staff to do the updates because I will say the individual staff working with us have been phenomenal. it's the overall capacity and so um there has been some conversation about that and that requirement that Barry Dunn does the reporting form that makes it easier to enter is part of how we're trying to help them on their capacity so that they can do more. So that's the biggest one. There's some other complexities that are probably beyond the scope of this conversation that's just a challenge um that have needed to be addressed. Uh but my hope is that with the new language we'll get a little over 5,000. >> Um can I ask a followup? Um, so I I appreciate I mean I I understand
020complex systems work is complex and so I understand some of the you need to invest the time and energy to sort of build up, you know, processes so that they can turn into repeatable processes and scale up. I understand that. Um, but I want to make sure that I'm understanding. Did we pay Barry Dunn $500,000 to get through 400? We paid Barry Dunn for $500,000 to do initial analysis and to really understand the scope of the problem, the approach on which we were going to tackle it and then to create something that >> doesn't automate because each person requires an individual to review it uh but allowed the keyable spreadsheet as we call it that goes to main pers to be more automated. >> Okay. Okay. Well, I appreciate all the effort um in terms
021of scaling this up um so that we can get this done. Thank you. [clears throat] Thank you, chair. Other questions from the board? Um I just had a couple of questions. Um just to follow up on um uh board member Brighten, is there any penalty or did we consider any penalty if we don't make the progress that we hope we do within this contract? uh penalty with Barry Dunn. >> Yes. >> Uh there is not. Um the So the contract and the full wording is available on the website. Uh there is not. Um you could we could certainly propose that. I'm not sure that Barry Dunn would go forward with the contract. Um and so it feels like just to be really candid, we're a little bit between a rock and a hard place uh
022around this. I think there's been significant progress um in this and I would say that the capacity issue is less around Barry Dunn and more around main purse. >> Okay, that is helpful and also just a context reminder for the full board like it is incredibly hard to find people with the right skills and the capacity to do this work. Um so I'm saying that out loud to remind all of us. Um uh and thank you for that additional context about how you've you've thought about that. I don't think that we need to add anything. I was I think mostly curious about how it's been thought about. Um and then I just wanted to double check that um the the file in board docs, whatever it's called, um is still marked draft. Is that just
023because it's not signed or is there still language that's going to be finalized on that? >> We are treating this as the language and so the watermark will come off. Um, but we posted this so that you had it. >> Perfect. I just wanted to just check that we're looking at the final language. >> Beautiful. Um, so, uh, any other questions from the board? Let me just double check on Zoom. Okay, I see no hands there. Um, so, [sighs and gasps] um, is there any public comment on this? No. [laughter] Okay, we'll go ahead and close public comment. Uh any general discussion uh by the board then by roll call vote, please indicate whether Oh, did I miss one? I apologize. I didn't see your hand. Go ahead. The question, sorry. um have we kind
024of explored another um let's say consulting firm um since we've talked about how their system is really time consuming and it's not as efficient as we would like it to be. >> So the the challenge for capacity after the initial learning is really on the pension fund side. Um so not something we have a choice on. Right? So all of our teachers, our edte, our school leaders are automatically in the state's pension. And so that's what we're really talking about. And then our other staff like bus drivers, many of them are and choose to be in the pension um but aren't required to be. Um and so we don't have flexibility on that. State law requires um that we use it. And so it's we we talked about this at one point that the way
025we have to report to them is a text file. um I would guess that you have not come across a text file um in a very long time uh if ever and that's the reality of how it gets reported to main ppers and so that's part of the challenge. Um the other thing that's just worth naming is it took us about four months to develop the initial reporting so that it went from ADP our payroll system to main pers right it's pretty complex what is happening now is that it's not just new earnings that are getting reported but in some cases we also have to say swap this line add this line delete this line and so there's a level of complexity here uh that is just really hard um to automate or to simplify.
026Um and so this is a true like individual accountants reviewing um that's making it so slow. >> Board member Brighten. Go ahead. >> Thank you. Um, in light of that, I'm curious about whether other districts are also facing similar challenges and whether there might be an opportunity for um some collaboration. Uh if maybe the answer is we don't know. Maybe the answer is, you know, other districts are just fine. But if other districts are also frustrated, I wonder if there's a possibility of collaborating to build capacity. >> So let me answer it in in two parts. Um there are other districts um not at the same scale because we're the largest district in the state. Um also it's not the sort of thing where uh main pers will comment to us on who the district
027is. Main PERS recognizes that the system is challenging and they're in the process of updating their system like swapping it out for new technology and so that's coming. Um, there's also a reality where we've worked with specific folks at Mainpers who know PPS and so they know that when they're looking at somebody in 2000 and they're missing one month, they know why that is. And so there's a there's a little bit of I'm not gonna say automaticity, but there's a little bit of that that the reality is is that um we're in a unique spot and we have some unique capacity that's helping us at main pers that there's not a good solution. >> Thank you. Board member Upperman. Go ahead. >> I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been working
028on this for the last three years. It's a very um it's a very great nightmare to remember u that when this all came to forefront it was hard very hard on the staff extremely hard on the staff throughout the district and so I appreciate everything that has been done so far I am looking forward to the end as as many of us are but that's um and so we will be hopeful it soon >> and can I just so yes to looking forward to the end of this and we have a little bit of ways to go. Um we had talked about this more in the finance committee uh two weeks ago and so just to bring in a little bit of the positive pieces and an update here that I think will help us
029is one is because there's been such a focus on 1996 to 2023 uh the reports coming out of um our payroll system for 24 and 25 hadn't yet been entered by main pers and so it meant that all staff who had participated in the pension during those two years. We're missing those main pers in partnership with Barry, not with Barry Dun because Barry Dun didn't help with this in partnership with our district finance team and with Carrie at the union prioritized and got done all of our PLLD. So those are the bus drivers, secretaries. Um they were finished last month. Um and teachers will be finished this month. And so it means that those two years of reporting uh will be caught up and mainers is committed to us that moving forward they will do
030each month as they receive it. And so it means that moving forward we won't have any of the sort of like nearterm challenges. It'll just be the historical. The other piece is I shared with them today. So, they've always prioritized individuals who recently retired, are close to retiring, or have a life um challenge that requires a quicker evaluation of the account. Um we shared with them tonight all of our active employees so that they will also work through those so that that will be caught up so that any of our current employees will be caught up in this batch of the contract that you're approving now. Um, and so that's also good news just in terms of progress. And so we will see that. So I don't want to say that there hasn't been anything.
031Um, there's been some pretty significant work here. Uh, it is unfortunately just taken longer uh to get the snowball rolling down the hill for the previous accounts. >> Board member Lena. >> Thank you. Um, superintendent, can you clarify um why Portland is paying for this work to be done and not Maine PERS? >> Do you understand what I'm asking? >> Yeah, I'm trying to think about how to answer that. I I mean, the reality is is that we're paying for this because it's errors of historical reporting on our side uh that are needing to be corrected. And so that's the the piece it and I just like most folks that go through a review have anywhere from zero changes to changes that add up to about $12,000 in total career earnings. That doesn't mean that
032it is deducting $12,000 from what they receive in the pension, but that's what it is. Um and so um unfortunately when you look at from 1996 to 2023 that's a lot of payrolls um that some individuals may have but that's why we're paying for it. >> Thank you. I'm glad uh that we were able to revisit uh those points of context uh because I think they're really important um and I feel comfortable um voting for this. I just want to make sure people feel clear um that I I feel confident in the process and uh what the superintendent um has has navigated this. So um are there any other points of discussion from the board at this point? Okay. Then um we're going to go ahead um and by roll call vote, please indicate whether
033you are in favor of the consideration and action to approve um this uh uh Barry Dunn contract. Uh, so Dr. Warren, whenever you're ready, please call the role. >> Member Ali Ali, >> yes. >> Member USA Ali, >> yes. >> Vice Chair Bondo. Member Brighten, >> yes. >> Member Lena, >> yes. >> Member no, >> yes. >> Member Opperman, >> yes. >> Member Sautell, >> yes. >> Student Representative Fitzgerald. >> Student Representative Cuba. Student Representative Lee, >> yes. Student Representative O'Brien, Student Representative Ziggler, Chair Lent. >> Yes. So, the motion passes. Um, and now we're going to move on to new business. Up first, we have the um a first read of updated policy AC, which is um non-discrimination and equal opportunity and affirmative action. Um uh Dr. Warren, is this uh you? Okay. Okay.
034So, uh there are three policies that we're looking at tonight and all of them are um have relatively limited changes and all of these are changes that we are required to make um in order to bring our our policies into line with current law um and and require federal requirements as well. So policy AC is our non-discrimination, equal opportunity and affirmative action policy. And um the the changes here have to do with changes that occurred in the law and we need to align um in terms of the definitions of uh protected status or protected categories. So the first um red purple lines you see are um adding in pregnancy and related conditions and familial status. So discrimination against those categories of people are discrim um prohibited and then very similar language just down below but
035this is in reference to students pregnancy and related conditions again and then the language um around students is slightly different. So parental, family or marital status um is the the studentf facing language. Um and that is uh it for policy AC. We'll pause and see if there are any questions on that one. >> Any questions from the board? Could you define um familial status? Um my understanding of that is that it's how uh how a family is constructed. So you know what your the makeup of the family. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Okay. And that is different than marital status because that's only about the marriage piece of it. Okay. Thank you. >> Let me just double check on Zoom here. Sorry, I can't get my Zoom to open. Um, okay, I see no other questions.
036So, I think that that means we can go on to the next um policy, which is uh our first read of updated policy ACA, which is harassment, discrimination, and sexual harassment of students. Dr. Warren. >> So, ACA and ACAB are essentially the same language. Um, so what you're going to see here is is repetitive. ACA is the student um oriented policy and ACAB is the staff oriented policy. Um, much of this stays the same. Um but where the edits are proposed, they are uh to bring us back into line with um the the current version and definition definitions being used um related to title N. So what's happened is that um the way that sexual harassment has been defined and talked about has sort of shifted back and forth with different um presidential fed federal
037administrations. Um, and essentially this is now reverting back to what was in place previously prior Trump administration. Um, and so you'll see here um in the comments on the on the side you see what was deleted, what the prior language was, and then in the red lines you see what the updated language needs to be. Um and again this is just to to bring us into line with current requirements. Um and then a small wording change here um around unwanted versus unwelcome. So those are the um the primary changes on ACA. I also do just want to share that when the policy committee reviewed these two policies ACAA and ACAB, there was a robust conversation around a suggestion by our attorneys that we remove this paragraph um which is in our current policy and that
038it it encourages the board um requires the board to have a to direct staff to have an alternative um uh reporting system that is anonymous. Um we do have that right now. Um and the policy committee took a look at that, debated it, and decided not to remove that paragraph, but to keep this clause related to an anonymous reporting system um in this version of the policy. So um that's why you're seeing that highlighted here. Um but that is uh currently as passed on to the full board by the policy committee that that stays in um right now. Are you ready for questions? Beautiful. Any questions from the board? >> Oh, thank you, Student Representative Lee. Go ahead. Uh just really briefly, I'm just curious why the idea of removing that paragraph about the anonymous
039reporting system was proposed. Does that also relate to like the the federal regulations or any of that piece or >> um No, it's because uh the anonymous reporting system is tied to an informal reporting um mechanism that we have. So once people make a formal report, then there's no choice for anonymity. It's only possible for someone to remain anonymous when it's an informal report. The lawyers were suggesting that the board might want to take that out because it complicates um investigations when there's no person attached to who's making the report. So, it just makes um usually it's the HR team that's leading that investigation and it complicates it a lot because they don't know who to talk to to get information. Um so the the legal team was suggesting that we might want to just
040take it out altogether because there's no requirement that we have that legally speaking. Um and so they they we're basically the argument was if they if the board removed it, it wouldn't prevent or preclude um reporting that was anonymous, but it might seem a little bit less like it was being encouraged. >> Yeah, I can see that. Um, and I will say that, you know, I wasn't here, but um, board members who had been here for a while shared that part of why this came into play was because, uh, there had been an issue with getting people to make reports a few years ago and a concern that people weren't comfortable reporting. And so trying to create ways that people felt like they could um, raise flags if they needed to and and do that
041in an informal and anonymous way. Beautiful. And Dr. Warren, are you going to go over the R policy separately? Um, I wasn't planning to go through the RA. That's the procedures. We'd provided it as a um sort of as background for folks. Um, but I was planning to do this one. And then, um, the ACAB is exactly the same thing. It's just got a different letter in the the title. Um, but we can look at that one too if you want to. Yeah, I think it would be helpful to just uh walk through that one if you don't mind. So um let me just read it into the record. So this is the first read of updated policy ACAB which is harassment, discrimination and sexual harassment of school employees. So if we scroll through this
042one um you will see very similar. It looks familiar. Um again you'll see the change in the definition here with the um old definition. The one that's being replaced is in the margins here in the deleted box and then the new definition um in the in the green lines. Um and then if you scroll down further you will again see um oops that was it. Uh I guess we did not highlight that language here around the um the reporting system. Um but it was the same conversation for both policies whether the anonymous reporting should be um considered for removal or not and same decision on ACAB that the policy committee made to pass this on to the full board with that paragraph remaining in. >> Great. What questions uh does the board have or any
043questions? Okay. Um well, thank you um for all of that information. Um and then finally um we have uh consideration and action to move into um executive session um pursuant uh to 1 MRSA 40560 to discuss the benefit association of school employees and uh Portland Administrators Association negotiations. Um so I'd be um looking for a motion for that. Thank you. Board member Ali. Is there a second? Board member no. Um all those in favor that is unanimous. Thank you. Um so we'll uh take a five minute break uh and then move into executive session. Just >> I know I was like oh we don't have Connor Sarah. Was that useful Ellie? Five. >> One more. >> There you go. All right, we got it. All right, I'm going to make Oh, hold on. Gus, can
044you come back? No, that's okay. Um, I'm just going to make uh a motion to adjurnn. Is there a second? Thank you, board member. Lina, all those in favor, that is unanimous. Uh, so we are adjourned at 8:21 p.m. >> Good night. Thank you very much for your >> good