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Parents, teachers and students press Portland board to protect music, counseling and experiential learning
Summary
During the FY27 budget public hearing, dozens of parents, teachers and students urged the board to preserve student-facing positions — especially counseling, Latin and experiential learning roles — saying cuts would reduce equity and access for vulnerable students.
Dozens of parents, teachers and students used the Portland Public Schools’ April 14 public hearing to press the school board to protect student-facing programs and staff as it finalizes the FY27 budget.
Speakers described concrete impacts: school counselors’ broad workload for postsecondary planning and crisis response; the role ed-techs play in special-education access; and fieldwork coordination tied to Wabanaki studies and a new Black History curriculum. "The experiential and out of school learning coordinator provides the institutional and programmatic stability needed to ensure universal access to fieldwork," said Fiona Hopper, the district’s social studies special projects coordinator, who asked the board to restore the position.
Parents and teachers reported similar concerns. Principal Angie Taylor (Presumpskot Elementary) described the strain of making budget decisions that risk diminishing the support structures school leaders and teachers rely on. Rory Crossman, a teacher at King Middle School, requested more transparency about central-office roles and job descriptions to understand how cuts could affect school operations.
Portland High students and teachers also spoke up for language and counseling programs. Anthony King, a Latin teacher, read letters from Latin students who said the course creates learning communities and academic opportunities; several commenters asked the board to reinstate a 0.5 FTE Latin teacher at Portland High. Counseling staff and a Portland High counselor, Victoria Herren, warned that proposed reductions in counseling positions would immediately reduce students’ access to support for course planning, testing, crisis response and college-readiness.
Several public commenters urged the board to preserve ed-tech roles in special education. "The number of times that we can't send kids out to a job or to a program because we don't have somebody to go with them is just too much," said Jesse Maldun, a special-education teacher, summarizing classroom impacts.
Board members cited the public testimony during budget amendments: the board later voted to restore a 0.5 FTE Latin teacher and a 0.5 FTE guidance counselor at Portland High School, restored the mobile maker-space teacher and the experiential coordinator, and rejected a motion to restore a full secondary music teacher after debating scheduling and staffing feasibility.
The board’s finance team and the superintendent flagged tradeoffs: some restorations were possible because of supplemental state funding and revised revenue assumptions (including an added $420,000 in supplemental state funds and an additional MaineCare revenue assumption of $250,000). Other proposed restorations failed when members said the district lacked capacity or a clear operational plan to implement them sustainably.
The board forwarded the amended budget to City Council for review; the City Council will consider the board’s recommendation, and if advanced, voters will see the budget on June 9. Meanwhile, staff said they will provide more detailed FTE and department-level breakdowns to the public to answer transparency requests raised during public comment.
