Portland school board OKs contract with 12% raise for most ed techs

But the district put off a decision on whether to hire an accounting firm to help sort out ongoing payroll issues, specifically incorrect payments it made to the Maine Public Employee Retirement System.

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Portland’s school board approved a contract that will increase wages for educational technicians but put off a decision Tuesday night on whether to hire an outside accounting firm for $500,000 to help resolve ongoing payroll issues, specifically incorrect payments made to the Maine Public Employee Retirement System.

The Portland Public Schools Board of Education and district administrators met at Casco Bay High School for a biweekly business meeting.

The district is trying to determine how payroll issues that began in 2022 have affected payments into the Maine Public Employee Retirement System, or MainePERS. Investigations have revealed errors ranging from $10 to $12,000, but the number of affected employees is not yet known, although a pilot program run by accounting firm BerryDunn revealed reporting issues for 12 of 14 employee files reviewed. Investigators also found issues outside of the 2022 window of payroll problems.

However, Tuesday night, Superintendent Ryan Scallon proposed tabling a contract with BerryDunn. He cited several reasons for the delay, including the unbudgeted expense, continuing input from attorneys about the best path for solving the MainePERS issue and a budget presentation next week that will provide an update on spending. He also said the district is actively working on reconciliation through the pilot program, and he’d like to see more results before approving the full contract.

The new contract with educational technicians was finalized more than a month after the previous contract expired. The union that represents ed techs has been negotiating with the district over salary since September, and the two reached a tentative agreement last week. The proposed contract included a new starting wage of $21.28 for most ed techs, about a 12% raise over the current pay.

The ed techs approved the contract in a unanimous vote late last week, the union’s president said earlier Tuesday.

“After many months of collaboration and hard work from both teams we have come to an agreement that raises pay to a competitive rate that will both attract new employees to the district as well honor the longevity and immense knowledge that seasoned staff bring to our students each year,” Jennifer Cooper said.

She testified in support of the contract at the meeting, and several board members thanked the negotiating team for its work on the agreement.

“This contract sets a precedent for competitive entry level salary, and compensates those that have been with the district for a while,” board Chair Sarah Lentz said.

District 2 board member Emily Figdor praised the process as well, but said she would have liked to see a greater raise for the lowest-paid ed techs.

The board unanimously approved the contract, with one abstention.

The contract with BerryDunn also was on the agenda, although members ultimately decided to table a vote on the contract until the next meeting.

The district’s payroll problems began in October 2022 when hundreds of employees were paid late, improperly or not at all. Financial auditors warned the district about vulnerabilities in the payroll system months before the widespread issues began, and former Superintendent Xavier Botana resigned in the wake of the controversy. An audit in early 2023 confirmed that understaffing, a lack of clear procedures and software problems led to the issue, and the district began rebuilding its payroll system.

Scallon first introduced the BerryDunn contract at the board’s last meeting, and said the reconciliation process has been very labor-intensive for the finance department, MainePERS staff and other involved staff. The proposed contract with BerryDunn is a one-year deal to review employee files, reconcile them with MainePERS, keep records of adjustments and stay in communication with employees. The cost was unbudgeted, but Scallon said it will be critical to take the burden off staff.

“This would allow our finance staff, as well as myself, to be able to ensure that this is happening, because we would still have staff able to dedicate to this, but we would actually have more capacity working on this, and our Portland Public Schools staff would be able to shift to work on other responsibilities,” he said.

The board voted unanimously to table the vote on the contract.

The board’s next business meeting is Nov. 5. That same day is federal and local election day; all schools will be open, and three in Portland – East End Community School, Deering High School and the Reiche Elementary School – will serve as poling places. Scallon said those schools will have clear boundaries between student areas and polling places.

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