The Portland Board of Public Education held a ceremony on Tuesday, Dec. 3, to inaugurate its newest members. The Board also voted for Board Chair Sarah Lentz to lead the Board again for a third year and voted to have Vice Chair Micky Bondo continue in that role for 2024-2025.

Sworn in at the Inauguration Ceremony at Casco Bay High School was returning District 1 Board member Abusana “Micky” Bondo, who was re-elected to that seat on Nov. 5. Also sworn in were two newly elected Board members: Maya Lena, who won an at-large seat, and Abdulkadir Ali, who prefers to be known as Ali Ali, who won the District 2 seat.

Also sworn in were five student representatives to the Board: Mina Fitzgerald, representing Portland High School; Julie Dove Kintiba, representing Portland Adult Education; Zachary Lee, representing Deering High School; Caroline O’Brien, representing Portland Arts & Technology High School (PATHS); and Rosie Zigler, representing Casco Bay High School.

In a non-binding caucus vote on Nov. 19, Board members chose Lentz, an at-large Board member, to continue as Board chair for the coming year and for Micky Bondo to continue in her role as vice chair for 2024-2025. Board members cited the need for continuity on the Board.

On Dec. 3, District 3 Board member Julianne Opperman formally nominated Lentz to be Board chair again for 2024-2025. Opperman praised Lentz, saying she demonstrates the characteristics of a leader who cares about and works collaboratively with others. Opperman also said Lentz “goes the extra mile,” to do the work needed to realize the goals of the district’s new Strategic Plan, which was developed in a year-long effort by the entire PPS community and was approved by the Board in June.

Lentz, a PPS parent with extensive nonprofit leadership experience, gave some reflections at the start of the meeting about her previous experience as Board chair. She said she could not have done the work without the support of the entire PPS community.

“There is an African proverb that says “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,” Lentz said. “Over the course of the last year I’ve thought of this proverb many times because I’ve seen it in action so many times. Students, staff, and our district community have come together repeatedly, doubled down on the vision of our schools and its commitment to equity, and taken action to get us there. While we still have a tremendous amount of work in front of us to meet this vision, I am incredibly grateful to be part of this team of so many.”

Regarding the coming school year, Lentz said the focus will be on the new five-year Strategic Plan, which has five priorities: Equity, Achievement, Whole Student, People and Systems. Each priority has specific initiatives aligned with it each year of the plan to help realize that priority.

“While we are early in this plan,” Lentz said, “most initiatives remain on track and those that aren’t are being focused on and invested in. This Board is charged with making sure this remains the case. It will be up to us to continue to work together to navigate what will be another challenging budget and to make sure all parts of our community are informed and involved so that they will pass the budget we need to continue our work to make the Portland Public Schools what we know they can be. I invite you all to join me in this.”

At-large Board member Usira Ali nominated Bondo to be vice chair for the coming year, saying Bondo was a “very passionate, direct and effective leader.” Other Board members praised the thorough, incisive questions Bondo frequently poses on district issues.

Bondo, who is serving her third term as the District 1 representative on the Board, was first elected in 2018 and was the first Congolese American elected to public office in Maine. In addition to her background in biochemistry, Micky is also a past PPS parent and the founder of local nonprofit In Her Presence, which focuses on helping immigrant women succeed in Maine.

Board members also voiced their appreciation for departing Board members Emily Figdor, the District 2 representative and Nyalat Biliew, an at-large member, neither of whom sought re-election. Biliew, who was completing her first term on the Board, spoke briefly, thanking the Board and staff members for their support and saying she was grateful for the experience of serving the community.

Figdor, who previously served twice as chair during her tenure on the Board, spoke at length. “Tonight I turn the page on 10 years of work to better fund our schools and to start to transform Portland Public Schools into an antiracist school district,” she said. “I’m very proud of the work I led and helped accomplish.”

Figdor credited former Superintendent Xavier Botana, Portland Public Schools staff, and “thousands of people coming together across the city and years of persistence and focus” for many of the district’s accomplishments over that time.

Among accomplishments she highlighted were the $64 million Buildings for our Future bond approved by Portland voters in 2017 to renovate four rundown elementary schools, Lyseth, Longfellow, Reiche and Presumpscot, into 21st century learning environments. The Lyseth project was completed in 2021 and ribbon-cutting ceremonies were held this fall to celebrate the completion of the remaining three schools.

She also cited increasing the Portland Public Schools’ budget and aligning it to the district’s equity mission and strategic plan; expanding and innovating the district’s pre-K program; passing policies to dismantle systems and structures perpetuating racism in our schools; replacing high school choice with high school preference, “enabling us to balance demographics, staffing, and opportunities across the high schools;” requiring all educators to gain expertise in teaching multilingual students; better aligning middle and high school bell times with the science of adolescent development; switching to solar power for the vast majority of the district’s electricity; and negotiating union contracts “that strengthened our ability to meet our strategic plan while better paying and supporting our staff.”

Figdor also said, “Lastly, this current Board, under the leadership of Superintendent Scallon and Chair Lentz, passed a strong Strategic Plan and established the Boundaries Committee to better balance demographics and enrollment across our elementary and middle schools, since we can’t build an equitable school district on a fundamentally inequitable foundation.”

Ben Grant, another at-large Board member, also was thanked and praised during the ceremony. On Nov. 5, Grant was elected to a seat on the City Council, so has stepped down from the Board. His Board term expires next December and a special election to fill that unexpired term is expected in 2025, most likely in June.

Also during the ceremony, Board members thanked outgoing student representatives for sharing students’ perspectives on issues, saying their important insights helped the Board in its work.

Watch the ceremony on YouTube.

The Portland Public Schools is Maine’s largest school district, with more than 6,500 students, and it’s also the most diverse. About one-third of the district’s students come from homes where languages other than English are spoken—a total of 59 languages. Approximately 47 percent of the district’s students are white and 53 percent are students of color. More than half of all PPS students are economically disadvantaged.