Portland Public Schools Board welcomes new members
Published 12:00 am Thursday, July 15, 2021
- Herman Greene gives remarks after being sworn in for his first term on the Portland Public Schools Board of Education. To the left, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Melvin Oden-Orr looks on.
Two new members will start their first terms on the Portland Public Schools Board after being sworn into office July 1.
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Gary Hollands and Herman Greene were sworn in during a ceremony at Jefferson High School, while incumbent Julia Brim-Edwards was sworn in for her third term.
Hollands, Greene and Brim-Edwards were elected to the school board in the May primary election.
Hollands, who owns and operates a trucking company and school, campaigned on expanding Career and Technical Education options for students and improving third-grade literacy for students of color and diversifying the staff at PPS. He will represent Zone 5 on the board, which spans Northeast Portland and Cully to the north and Hollywood and 82nd Avenue to the East.
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Greene is a pastor and school volunteer who advocated for improving the district’s graduation rates and increasing community engagement and involvement in the district’s decisions. He represents Zone 4 in North Portland.
Brim-Edwards works for Nike and serves Zone 6 in Southeast and East Portland. During her previous terms on the board, she’s prioritized better outcomes for students, especially those historically underserved by the district.
With new members, the school board also named Director Michelle DePass as the new board president and Andrew Scott, who represents Southwest Portland, as vice president.
Jackson Weinberg was also welcomed as the board’s new student representative.
This fall, PPS students are slated to return to school in-person fulltime after returning in spring for limited in-person learning. The district will also offer an online charter school option for families who want to continue remote learning.