At its Nov. 14 meeting, the Portland Board of Public Education held a caucus to take an informal vote to select new leaders for the coming year. The Board unanimously chose current Board Chair Sarah Lentz to lead the Board again and also unanimously endorsed current Vice Chair Micky Bondo to continue in that role for the next year.
The Board will take a formal vote on those appointments at its Inauguration ceremony, to be held on Tuesday, Dec. 5, at 5 p.m. in room 200 at Casco Bay High School.
At the caucus, at-large Board member Ben Grant nominated Lentz, an at-large Board member, to be chair again for the coming year. Grant noted that there is a great deal of change ongoing in the world and locally and said leadership during such times requires vision, values, commitment to community “and a steady hand,” all of which he said Lentz has demonstrated. “She has done a great job,” Grant said, in recommending she continue in the role of chair.
District 3 Board member Julianne Opperman nominated Bondo to continue as vice chair. Opperman cited Bondo’s leadership in the immigrant community, her experience as a PPS parent and her five years on the Board as key to her being a successful vice chair.
Lentz said she is “incredibly grateful” to Board members for their support during the challenges of the past year. “Your trust in my leadership is not something I take lightly,” Lentz said. She also thanked Bondo for her work over the past year, telling Bondo that it was “an absolute joy to lead alongside you.” Lentz said she supported Bondo’s reappointment as vice chair.
The Dec. 5 ceremony also will include the swearing in of current District 5 Board member Sarah Brydon, who was re-elected to her seat on Nov. 7, and two newly elected Board members: Fatuma Noor, who won the District 4 seat, and Usira Ali, the winner of an at-large seat. Also sworn in will be student Board representatives.