Portland staff propose splitting IT and finance roles to shore up capacity; option to add a controller would cost about $200,000

The committee heard two related organizational proposals on May 11 designed to address capacity, data quality and recurring audit work.

Haley Drison, the district's director of IT, said anticipated vacancies provide an opportunity to reshape the Data & Technology team. "The assistant director for technology integration role was just too broad in scope," Drison said, describing a plan to create parallel specialist roles (data specialist and technology integration specialist) that would emphasize building capacity in schools, improving data quality in Infinite Campus and strengthening technology-integration supports.

Drison proposed adding a lead computer technician focused on asset management to handle long-term hardware planning and create career progression for technicians. She said the reorganization is expected to produce a modest net salary savings because the specialist roles have lower salary bands than the current assistant-director role, while the lead technician adds some cost. "All said and done we're anticipating a 5 to $25,000 salary savings," she told the committee.

Drison described current operational realities: technicians typically cover about four schools (roughly a 1:500 user ratio), the district runs a centralized help-desk ticketing system, and librarians have formed an important community of practice that supports district technology integration and professional development.

Finance Director Lisa Beck then outlined three staffing options for the finance team to address recurring audit findings, rising workload and a recent senior departure. She summarized the team's staffing history and recurring audit weaknesses around payroll withholding accounts, purchasing cards and student activity accounts, and noted that the director of accounting has resigned effective in July, creating an immediate hiring need.

Beck presented three options: (1) add the half-state-funded position the state will reimburse (budget neutral but offers limited relief); (2) repurpose an adult-education head and add one full FTE (net additional cost roughly $60,000) to create a budget and financial analyst role; and (3) add two roles including a controller to take over day-to-day accounting, payroll and purchasing, freeing senior finance leaders for strategic work. Beck said option 3 would cost roughly $200,000 but could be funded through vacancy savings and by capturing additional revenue if the team ramps up main care billing and state funding adjustments.

Committee members asked about the district's ADP payroll contract and vendor flexibility; Beck said the ADP contract runs through 2029 and cautioned that switching platforms is substantial work though ADP has added features (for example, an online open-enrollment rollout). Superintendent Ryan Scallan said a successful implementation of option 3 would free district leadership to spend less time on operational finance work and more on strategic priorities such as pursuing grants and ensuring proper state funding calculations.

No staffing decisions were made at the meeting. Staff said they will refine job descriptions, recruitment timing and budgeting approaches and return with more detailed proposals.

Procedural note: Board member Opperman moved to adjourn the meeting and Board member Noir seconded; the motion passed unanimously.