The Portland School Board has appointed two interim co-superintendents following the resignation of Superintendent Xavier Botana.

The board voted Jan. 3 to appoint Melea Nalli and Aaron Townsend to the positions, according to a statement from the district. Both served as assistant superintendents under Botana, and will supervise the district until a new superintendent is named, which the board expects to do by June.

“Assistant superintendents Nalli and Townsend have demonstrated tremendous leadership during their tenure with the Portland Public Schools,” said Chairperson Sarah Lentz. “They are deeply embedded in the equity and academic work across the district, respected by their peers at all levels, and extremely well positioned to continue pursuing district priorities.”

Nalli joined the school department as a consultant in the summer of 2016. Townsend joined the department in 2019 as assistant superintendent of school management.

“In full transparency, we both accept this interim appointment with mixed feelings but with full hearts and total commitment to our community and to our colleagues,” Nalli and Townsend said in a joint statement.

Botana, who was planning to step down in June, instead announced his resignation on Dec. 16, 2022, effective on Jan. 13, 2023. 

That decision came after a contentious board meeting in December where staff members reportedly packed the room to complain they weren’t being paid on time, or in some cases not at all.

In the statement announcing the appointments, the district acknowledged the problems and vowed to correct them: “The district has struggled to pay all of its more than 1,500 employees in a complete and timely way since the fall, and continues to work on a variety of issues to resolve immediate problems and strengthen its payroll system long term.”

The board also voted on Jan. 3 to name Deering High School Co-Principal Abdullahi Ahmed as interim assistant superintendent.