The Portland Board of Public Education will hold a ceremony on Tuesday, Dec. 9, to inaugurate its newest members. At the event, scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., the Board also will formally vote to approve a Board chair and vice chair for the coming year. At its Nov. 25 meeting, the Board informally decided at a caucus to support having current Board Chair Sarah Lentz and current Board Vice Chair Abusana "Micky" Bondo continue on in those roles for 2025-2026, citing their dedication, hard work and valuable expertise in those roles.

To be sworn in at the Dec. 9 ceremony in room 200 of Casco Bay High School will be District 3 Board member Julianne Opperman and two other Board members, at-large representatives Sarah Lentz and Jayne Sawtelle. All three were re-elected in the Nov. 4 election to new three-year terms.

Lentz, a PPS parent and director of strategic initiatives, culture and community for the Maine Philanthropy Center, is the Board’s current chair. Lentz was first elected in a special election in June 2022 to fill an unexpired term for an at-large seat and then was reelected to the seat that following November. Sawtelle is a retired Portland High School music teacher who was elected to fill an unexpired term for an at-large seat in a special election this past June. Opperman is a retired educator who was first elected to her District 3 seat in November 2022.

Also sworn in will be four student representatives to the Board: Sebastian Milstein-Jones, representing Casco Bay High School; Safa Mohamed, representing Deering High School; Emery Grant, representing Portland High School; and Caroline O’Brien, representing the Portland Arts and Technology High School or PATHS.

The Portland Public Schools High School Orchestra will perform at the ceremony under the direction of orchestra director Julianne Eberl. The public is invited to attend the hybrid ceremony in person or virtually via Zoom. See the Board meeting page on the district website for more information.

The Portland Public Schools is Maine’s largest school district, with more than 6,200 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 48 percent of the district’s students are white and 52 percent are students of color. More than half of all PPS students are economically disadvantaged.