Portland committee fields budget trade-offs as teachers press to fund full-time pre‑K social worker

Portland, Maine — The Portland Public Schools Finance, Operations and Personnel Committee on March 17 reviewed the district's proposed $171,000,000 FY26 budget, discussed a menu of possible reductions and their tax impacts, and heard public comment pressing the district to convert a half‑time pre‑K partner‑site social worker position to full time.

The committee meeting, chaired by Chair Bridal, centered on uncertainties in the district's benefits premiums, planned use of fund balance and a set of targeted investments and potential cuts. Superintendent Scallon walked members through line‑by‑line questions raised at a March 10 meeting and outlined staff recommendations and tradeoffs the committee could consider before the budget returns for a committee vote on March 20 and full‑board review on April 1 (discussion) and April 8 (vote).

Why it matters: The proposed budget would raise the school share of property taxes by 5.3 percent, increase the mill rate by $0.42 per $1,000 of assessed value and raise the median homeowner's annual school tax by about $210 on a $500,000 home, according to district figures. Committee members said the biggest near‑term uncertainty is the pending medical premium rate for employees; dental premiums were confirmed to rise 5.97 percent. Every percentage point above the 6 percent assumed increase is roughly $110,000 to the district's cost, staff said.

Superintendent Scallon said budget assumptions include a projected FY26 use of fund balance of $3,900,000, all for nonrecurring costs, and noted an offset as a pension bond obligation of roughly $2,700,000 falls off next year. Scallon described the temporary salaries category and operational contract lines, summarized state revenue categories and explained why the one‑time multilingual learner hardship funds received in FY25 are not budgeted for FY26 because they depended on the state's FY24‑25 supplemental budget.

Staff highlighted several specific items under consideration for reduction or adjustment: $64,000 in additional fundraising assumed from the Foundation for Portland Public Schools; a $119,000 nonpersonnel reduction in academics; changes to registration staffing; maintaining the pre‑K partner‑site social worker at 0.5 FTE in the proposal; ending the TNTP external staff survey and replacing it with an alternative instrument; eliminating student hotspots or shrinking that program; removing an AmeriCorps contract and 0.2 FTE of the language access coordinator in multilingual services; reducing one FTE each in physical and occupational therapy while increasing contracted services; not adding an evening custodian; and reducing one bus driver FTE. Staff provided benchmark salary estimates used for comparison: about $99,000 for a teacher/guidance counselor/social worker position, $61,000 for an education technician and $125,000 for an assistant principal.

Two public commenters who identified themselves as Portland Public Schools pre‑K dual language learner teachers pressed the committee to change course on the social‑work position. “I urge you to consider funding the social work position for pre‑K as a full time position rather than a half time position to help ensure the best possible experiences and supports for our youngest learners,” said Sue Chevalier, who said she has worked in Portland Public Schools for 13 years and serves multiple pre‑K classrooms, including partner sites. Rachel Sui, also a pre‑K dual language learner teacher, said the half‑time posting has been open since September and “the students who would benefit most from these services are among our highest needs students — students who need consistent, dedicated support to thrive.”

Committee members discussed the tradeoffs between tax impact and program reductions. Board Member Opperman said she favored keeping the proposed 5.3 percent increase if possible but asked staff and colleagues to identify marginal reductions that would avoid harming students. Board Member Lena and others singled out music teacher additions and kindergarten supports as priorities they would not want to cut; they also expressed reservations about cutting custodial or bus positions because of operational impacts. Members asked staff for clearer, homeowner‑level estimates of tax impacts under different premium scenarios so the committee could weigh options at next week's meeting.

Staff noted some lines are complex to manage — for example, student hotspot devices and the T‑Mobile contract include equipment and monthly service costs and are difficult to administer centrally; the district said it could explore city partnerships and alternative funding sources to reduce ongoing local budget costs while retaining some connectivity supports for students. Baxter School for the Deaf tuition revenue (about $230,000) and other out‑of‑district tuition assumptions were also raised as variables.

What happens next: The committee expects to vote on any proposed adjustments on March 20 and send a recommended budget to the full board. Staff said benefit rate information may arrive late; if so, the committee can adopt a posture and recommendations for handling higher‑than‑expected premiums when the board reviews the budget on April 1 and votes April 8.

The meeting ended without further formal action on budget changes; Board Member Robin moved to adjourn, Board Member Lena seconded and the adjournment carried unanimously.