SchoolsThursday, November 12
PPS board meets Friday to consider an investigation into leaders' use of Signal
The PDXtoday team
If you've got a kid in Portland Public Schools, here's the latest: the board will meet virtually Friday, Nov. 13, in an unusual special session on a resolution to investigate reported use of Signal, an app that lets messages disappear. The district's General Counsel, working with outside legal counsel, would look into whether and how managers use it.
- Resolution: also asks whether the messages can be preserved
- Policy question: does using non-approved platforms break district policy or law?
- State guidance: business messages are public records anywhere
- Backdrop: superintendent's plan to close up to a dozen schools
The Signal questions reach the PPS board on Friday
- Oct.A text exchange between two district figures is photographed at a school board meeting.
- Nov. 13The board will meet virtually in special session on the Signal resolution.
- 2027Deborah Kafoury plans to resign as the superintendent's chief of staff at the start of 2027.
Sources: OregonLive.com, KPTV
That photographed exchange, which included disparaging remarks about board member Stephanie Engelsman, ran on Signal. Willamette Week reported that Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong and others used it too. PPS said Signal “is not a district-approved platform for conducting official PPS communications.” Public records attorney Alan Kessler said that to the extent they use it to avoid archiving systems, “they're breaking the law.”
Three PPS staffers are at the center of the Signal reports
| Who | Role | Signal link |
|---|---|---|
| Deborah Kafoury | Outgoing chief of staff | Texts photographed at a board meeting |
| Sarah Norman | Procedeo employee; heads PPS real estate office | Other side of the photographed texts |
| Kimberlee Armstrong | Superintendent | Willamette Week reports it saw messages |
Sources: OregonLive.com, KPTV
Sources: OregonLive.com, KPTV