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Former Portland schools project manager seeks reinstatement in whistleblower lawsuit
Kiesha Locklear says Portland Public Schools eliminated her job after she raised concerns about a $61.5 million contract with construction consultant Procedeo. Her lawsuit comes as the district’s bond program faces an external audit and a criminal investigation referral to the Oregon Department of Justice.
A former Portland Public Schools project manager has sued the district, alleging it eliminated her position in retaliation for raising concerns about a contractor overseeing work funded by school construction bonds.
Kiesha Locklear filed the lawsuit Wednesday, Oct. 21, in Multnomah County Circuit Court. She seeks damages and reinstatement, alleging PPS discriminated against her for reporting what she believed were violations of state law and for opposing an unlawful practice. The allegations have not been tested in court.
Locklear was a senior project manager in PPS’s Office of School Modernization and led work on the Jefferson High School modernization and the Center for Black Student Excellence. Her lawsuit says she began raising concerns internally in June 2025 about the district’s handling of bond funds and its decision to hire Procedeo, a Texas-based contractor, to manage construction work.
She also spoke at two School Board meetings in fall 2025. At a September meeting, Locklear questioned Procedeo’s claims that it could reduce the time and cost of the Jefferson project. In December, she challenged the figures behind the district’s $61.5 million contract with the firm, calling the math “wild” and warning that PPS was overpaying.
According to the complaint, PPS later added Locklear’s job to a list of positions to be replaced by Procedeo, then terminated her employment on Jan. 26, 2026. The lawsuit also alleges that the district offered her a payout in exchange for releasing legal claims, including her whistleblower rights. Locklear instead filed a tort claim notice on June 22.
In that notice, Locklear described herself as a licensed Black woman architect whose experience and institutional knowledge were important to the two projects she led. She argued that the district lacked meaningful ways to assess the value of its spending on Procedeo and had become too dependent on an outside consultant after cutting in-house staff.
The complaint comes amid broader scrutiny of PPS’s bond program. An external auditor raised concerns about the program, and the Oregon secretary of state’s office referred its investigation of the Procedeo contract to the Oregon Department of Justice for a criminal investigation. Locklear’s lawsuit says she reported her concerns to the secretary of state’s office.
Locklear’s filing also disputes the value of Procedeo’s work on Jefferson. It says the firm was hired to explore ways to speed up construction and save money, but its proposed alternatives were not workable and the project team’s existing approach was the best available option.
A PPS spokesperson said the district does not comment on pending litigation.