One incumbent, senior board member Benjamin Meiklejohn, faces four challengers who have a broad range of professional and political experience.
Meiklejohn, 36, is a musician, writer and house painter who has served two three-year terms. The other incumbent, Ellen Alcorn, didn't seek re-election to a second term.
The challengers are: Jaimey Caron, 42, a civil engineer and former Planning Board member; Orlando Delogu, 70, a law professor and former City Council and Planning Board member; Leslie Minton, 43, a mathematics specialist with the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance; and Kathleen Snyder, 37, a research associate with the Boston University Global Health Primary Care Initiative.
Meiklejohn has been criticized for his role as finance subcommittee chairman this year, when the district developed a $2 million deficit in the $82 million budget that ended June 30. Superintendent Mary Jo O'Connor and Finance Director Richard Paulson resigned as a result.
Meiklejohn said he knows some people blame him for the budget problems, but it would be a mistake to vote him off the committee. He said he asked for monthly financial reports in January but didn't receive one until May. He has since pushed through several policy changes that are part of the budget recovery process.
"I think if the timing's bad and I take the fall for this, I did more than anybody else," Meiklejohn said. "We're eons ahead of where we were last year."
Meiklejohn's challengers say he didn't do enough.
Delogu said he believes the committee must post all budget information online, work more cooperatively with the City Council, be open to all constituents, and pass a budget next year without a tax increase to restore public faith in the school system.
Caron, Minton and Snyder said the school budget must be tied to established educational priorities and withstand line-by-line scrutiny based on measurable test data. "We cannot operate in a vacuum," Caron said.
On the search for a new superintendent, all of the candidates said the person should have both solid educational and financial experience.
Minton said a superintendent should have work experience at various levels of a school system. Delogu said a superintendent must be open with the committee and the community to ensure confidence in the school system.
Caron said a superintendent must embrace technology as a low- cost way to get information to the community, promote awareness of committee work and demonstrate accountability to the voters.
On the committee's recent 7-2 decision to make prescription birth control available at King Middle School, the candidates agreed that the issue should have been studied further before the committee voted.
Meiklejohn voted against the measure and has offered a proposal, to be considered Nov. 7, that would allow the school's health center to prescribe birth control only to students ages 14 and older.
Snyder, Minton and Caron said it's a public health issue heaped with moral concerns that warrants more community input. Delogu said the committee should have studied the legal implications more thoroughly, but he supports the effort to keep sexually active kids from getting pregnant.
While Portland's municipal races are nonpartisan, next week's election could increase, decrease or maintain the number of Green Independent Party members on the committee.
Three Greens -- Meiklejohn, Susan Hopkins and Rebecca Minnick -- hold seats on the nine-member committee dominated by Democrats. Caron and Snyder are Democrats, Minton is a Green and Delogu is unenrolled.
Last year, Greens gained attention when they held four seats on the committee.
Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at:
kbouchard@pressherald.com
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