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Portland school leaders share draft MOU with city to clarify costs, responsibilities ahead of budget season
Summary
Portland Public Schools staff presented a draft memorandum of understanding with the City of Portland on Oct. 27 to document which entity is responsible for specific services and costs and to improve budget transparency.
Portland Public Schools staff presented a draft memorandum of understanding with the City of Portland on Oct. 27 intended to record current-state responsibilities and the flow of costs between the two entities to improve transparency ahead of budget season.
Dr. Scallon, district administrator, said the draft MOU seeks to capture how services are currently provided and where costs are charged, noting that in fiscal year 2025 the district recorded more than $1 million in costs that shifted between the city and the district for services such as field usage and playground maintenance. Scallon said the draft is not final and the city has not agreed to the current version.
The draft focuses on documenting existing arrangements rather than prescribing changes. Scallon said the document—s value is that it gives both organizations clearer information to use during budget development and could reduce ad-hoc transfers of taxpayer funds. He said the MOU does not yet capture all in-kind exchanges (for example, parking made available by the city and cleaning provided by the district for city recreation programs) and that staff expect additional discussion on where decisions and budget responsibility should align.
Councilor Grant, Councilor Ali and Councilor McNevich attended the committee meeting and said they intend to press the council to act and to work with district staff to finalize the agreement. Scallon and staff noted the city—s finance committee schedule and municipal election timing may delay a final response until after the new year. The draft asks that both parties share potential budget implications by Feb. 1 to give each side lead time before final budgets are set.
Committee members welcomed the effort to create clearer lines of responsibility and budgeting but also voiced frustration at the pace of negotiations and noted the operational complexity of shared services such as recreation programs and field rentals. Staff said the MOU will be revised as discussions continue and that they will keep the board informed as the city responds.
