Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Financial Results topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Portland Public Schools reports near‑complete FY25 revenue collection; staff flag unbooked grant timing and audit costs
Summary
Senior director of finance Lisa Beck told the committee that about 97% of FY25 revenues have been booked, with roughly $2 million of unbooked reimbursable grant revenue pending state approval; expenditures ran about 90% to date, with personnel under budget because of vacancies and contracted services over budget due to an unplanned audit and IT work.
Lisa Beck, senior director of finance for Portland Public Schools, presented preliminary financial results for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, reporting high revenue collection and several timing and cost issues the committee will monitor.
Beck said the district has booked roughly 97% of its budgeted revenues for FY25 and expects the figure to rise as grant invoicing is finalized: “Where this really leaves us is that 97 percent of our revenues have been booked for the year to the budget,” she said. Beck told the committee staff estimate about $2,000,000 in unbooked revenue now, which awaits state approval of reimbursement invoices.
She highlighted two grants received in June: a $100,000 climate-education professional-development grant supporting an environmental-pathway program at a secondary site, and a $20,000 grant from the John T. Gorman Foundation for elementary leadership development. Beck said those and other late-arriving grants explain part of the timing difference between budgeted and booked revenue.
On the expenditure side, Beck reported FY25 spending at about 90% of budget to date and said that accruals for summer teacher pay, recognized back to FY25 when payroll finalizes in August, will likely push overall expenditures to an estimated 95–97% of budget. She attributed the personnel underspend primarily to vacancies and said contracted services ran over budget because of unplanned costs tied to the Barry Dunn audit and additional cybersecurity/IT engineering.
Beck and staff noted one FY25 contract (about $500,000) had not been budgeted and will carry into FY26; that amount is included in the FY26 budget. The district also plans to assume a small vacancy rate in the FY26 budget (0.75%) rather than a 100% fill assumption used for FY25; staff said they will monitor that new assumption.
Committee members asked for a September update on PERS (the public-employee retirement system) impacts and for ongoing short updates on status of the Barry Dunn audit. Dr. Scallon said staff will post updated materials publicly and circulate an amended calendar ahead of the next committee meeting.
The committee took no formal fiscal votes; members asked staff to return with clarifying details on grants, the audit timeline and the proposed FY26 vacancy assumption.
