News & Events

On Tuesday, March 10, Superintendent Ryan Scallon presented the proposed budget for the 2026-2027 school year to the Portland Board of Public Education and the public. He started his presentation of the fiscal year 2027 (FY27) budget with a report of the improved outcomes for students the district has been seeing over the past two years of implementation of its five-year Strategic Plan—particularly for  economically disadvantaged students, multilingual students learning English, and students with IEPs in reading and in math.
The proposed budget aims to build on that progress while confronting fiscal challenges.

Nate Witherbee, music teacher at Portland Arts and Technology High School, and Abby Hutchins, music teacher at Deering and Casco Bay high schools, have been nominated for the Manilow Music Teacher Award, which honors educators who have a passion and dedication to teaching music to students. The two are among 10 Maine music educators vying to be the top vote-getters in an online contest to receive a $10,000 prize—$5,000 in a cash award and $5,000 for instruments for students.

Three students at Portland High School have won a Painting for a Purpose grant of $471 to launch an inclusive dance club at the school. The “I Am The Drama Dance Club” will welcome students from all backgrounds and those eager to learn, according to the founding leaders of the club, juniors Praise Mugisha, Renata Banga-Barroso and Naomie Luzingu. "We are passionate about this project because we love dancing and we grew up loving it,” the students said in their grant application to Painting for a Purpose.

School meals continue to be free of charge but for students that purchase extras such as drinks and chips, families should be aware that the Portland Public Schools Food Service is transitioning to a new payment software in the spring of 2026 — and the current payment software, PayPAMS, will no longer be taking online payments for students’ meal accounts after December 31, 2025. The system will still be available for students to be able to deposit cash or checks at their schools.

Portland High School art teacher José Gouveia recently led his students in a unique project that combined creating art with being a connected member of the community — holding an online auction of the students’ artwork to help Maine Needs. That Portland-based nonprofit works in support of asylum seekers, students, the unhoused population, survivors of domestic violence, and those facing financial adversity to make sure that no one goes without the basics.