Portland Schools begin search for new finance director

The executive director of finance for Portland Public Schools has resigned after about a year on the job, and Maine’s largest school district is now kicking off a nationwide search for someone new to lead its finance department.

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Helene DiBartolomeo joined the district in August 2023 after four years as the finance director for the town of Cumberland. She served on the Cumberland Town Council from June to December 2024, and was hired back to the role of finance director in December. She resigned her seat on the council in order to do so, and the town waived a requirement that employees not have served on the council for at least one year.

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At a Tuesday night school board meeting, Portland Superintendent Ryan Scallon said the district has begun a nationwide search for a new director after DiBartolomeo resigned just before the holiday break. He said the district is working with Alma Advisory Group, the same K-12 talent search firm that the district used in its 2023 superintendent search that ultimately led to Scallon’s hiring.

Scallon said he anticipates starting the interview process in February.

“When we did this search the last time … it was a very localized search. This time we’re expanding it to a national, so we’re finding someone who has that level of experience,” he said.

In the meantime, Scallon said, he will spend time filling in on the finance team as an interim chief financial officer.

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He said the district’s former purchasing manager Lesa Beck has also returned and will be the district’s payroll manager. There is also a temporary employee in the finance department who will work for a couple of months while the search is ongoing, and the district signed a $50,000 consulting contract for the transition period to make sure processes run smoothly, Scallon said.

“We’re now in a spot where I feel that we’ll have some natural transitional pieces, that go along with any transition, but I’m feeling pretty good,” Scallon said.

The district had a major crisis in its payroll system more than two years ago, where hundreds of employees were paid incorrectly. The district has been working to rebuild its finance systems since then, including recent efforts to reconcile issues with contributions to the state public employee retirement program, which the district has described as the final financial issue to resolve.

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