The Portland Board of Education voted unanimously today to appoint assistant superintendents Melea Nalli and Aaron Townsend as interim co-superintendents until a new superintendent is selected by June of 2023.   Dr. Abdullaahi Ahmed, currently co-principal at Deering High School will take on the role of interim assistant superintendent for the transition.

The appointments follow the Decemer 16, 2022 resignation of Superintendent Xavier Botana, who cited district payroll issues as his reason for steppng down.  Botana’s last day in office will be Friday, January 13 at which time the new team will move fully into leadership.

Botana had originally planned to retire at the end of this current school year, so the Board has already formed a Superintendent Search Commitee to hire a replacement by June of  2023.

Nalli and Townsend also said they plan to continue the work Botana initiated through the Portland Promise, the district’s strategic plan

For background information on the unfortunate resignation of Suerintendent Botana, please visit post herein dated December 16, 2022.