The School Committee hired no additional staff Wednesday night, delaying what is usual practice as the start of school nears. Two weeks ago, the committee hired about 30 teachers.
The School Department has an additional 25 to 30 vacancies, including teachers, educational technicians, speech therapists and custodians, said Human Resources Director Joline Hart.
Next Wednesday, the committee is expected to consider a hiring freeze proposed by Benjamin Meiklejohn, finance chairman. The freeze would apply to "all non-mandated, non-classroom instructional personnel," according to an agenda item that wasn't taken up Wednesday.
"It would put a hold on hiring to give us an opportunity to review the feasibility of not filling these positions," Meiklejohn said. It also would serve as a warning to people who have applied and even interviewed for jobs in Portland schools, he said.
Meiklejohn's proposal may already have some support.
"I have no appetite to hire anybody right now. It's fiscally irresponsible under the circumstances," Lori Gramlich, committee member, said before the meeting.
"We have to look long and hard at our budget to make sure we can afford to fill any more positions. Right now, we don't have a firm grasp of that information," John Coyne, committee chairman, said before the meeting.
Coyne said the committee is waiting for results, due later this month, of a review city finance officials are conducting on last year's $82 million school budget, which ended June 30, and this year's $85.7 million budget.
Kathleen Casasa, president of the Portland teachers union, said a hiring freeze makes sense only if there's a plan to address the work that won't get done if positions go unfilled.
In a related matter, Coyne said he plans to meet with city finance officials today or Friday to review a proposed agreement to limit the city's responsibilities in fixing the School Department's budget problems.
The city's finance staff took over the School Department's finance office on Aug. 2, shortly after school Finance Director Richard Paulson resigned amid controversy over the deficit.
The role of the city's finance staff is billed as temporary, but could become permanent if Portland officials decide to combine school and city finance offices, as was done in the 1980s.
Coyne said he wants to clarify several aspects of this written agreement, which City Manager Joseph Gray Jr. has asked Superintendent Mary Jo O'Connor to sign.
"A lot's left up to interpretation," Coyne said. "I want to make sure all parties understand their responsibilities."
The proposed agreement stipulates that "decisions on educational policy and any adjustments to the school budget will continue to be the responsibility of the superintendent and the School Committee." In addition, "city staff will participate in all school budget and financial-related matters."
The agreement stresses that "restoring confidence in the management of the School Department is of paramount importance. To be successful, all parties need to participate fully and share information freely."
Once the agreement is clarified, Coyne said, he would ask O'Connor to sign it.
Meanwhile, Coyne said, he has postponed the committee's review of O'Connor's plan to improve financial reporting to the committee.
O'Connor has amended her plan since she unveiled it last week. It no longer includes two paragraphs that defined "core competencies" for herself and the committee.
In her plan, O'Connor had suggested that "appropriate use of core competencies" would be a potential benefit of permanently combining city and school finance offices.
The two paragraphs no longer in O'Connor's plan are:
"It is...
Reader comments
Click here to view or add comments on this story
Were you interviewed for this story? If so, please fill out our accuracy form