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Portland School Board Unanimously Authorizes Independent Inquiry into Signal Use by District Leaders
The Portland School Board voted 7-0 Friday to authorize an independent investigation into the use of Signal and other unapproved messaging platforms by Superintendent Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong and other district leaders, with findings due by Dec. 11. The inquiry, led by outside counsel Bob Steringer, will report directly to the board and examine whether leaders directed staff to use encrypted messaging for official business.
The Portland School Board on Friday unanimously approved a resolution authorizing an independent inquiry into the use of Signal and other unapproved messaging platforms by district leaders, including Superintendent Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong, for official Portland Public Schools business.
The 7-0 vote at a special meeting came one week after reporting revealed screenshots from multiple sources showing district leaders discussing public business on the encrypted messaging app. A district spokesperson confirmed that using Signal for official communications is not authorized. Some of the screenshots also showed that chats between leaders and the superintendent used Signal's "disappearing messages" feature, which allows users to set a timer after which messages may vanish.
The resolution, which board members amended during a sometimes contentious debate, directs independent counsel to produce a report directly to the board by Dec. 11âshortly before the board is expected to weigh major decisions on school closures. If that deadline cannot be met, counsel will submit an interim report by that date. A final report will be made public after the inquiry concludes.
School Board chair Eddie Wang said Friday that the district has retained outside litigation lawyer Bob Steringer to lead the external fact-finding process. Steringer told board members he will be assisted by two separate outside agentsâone specializing in information technology and another specializing in legal matters involving educational institutions.
Steringer also sought to reassure board members about the inquiry's independence, confirming that he has established measures to ensure "the outside fact finder would be providing its report directly to the board and would not be going through the administration as any sort of filter before it does that."
"That is very specifically to address the independence interests that I'm sure the entire board is concerned about," Steringer said.
In the days before Friday's vote, board members considered an original resolution from Wang and an amendment from board members Stephanie Engelsman and Virginia La Forte. Wang's version would have authorized PPS general counsel to work with outside legal counsel to seek facts on three broad points: whether district employees used Signal, whether information can be retained, and authorization to collect other relevant information. Some board members worried that approach would not guarantee a fully independent inquiry.
The Engelsman-La Forte amendment widened the inquiry to include former district employees and vendors or contractors associated with the district, and established processes for confidential reporting. It also specifically asks that any inquiry examine whether district leaders directed employees to use messaging platforms not approved by PPS to conduct district business.
After debate, the board voted 4-3 to adopt the Engelsman-La Forte amendment as a baseline. Several smaller amendments were then made before the final unanimous vote.
The inquiry's Dec. 11 reporting deadline lands just ahead of what are expected to be consequential decisions on school closures, adding urgency to the board's effort to get answers about how district business was conducted outside official channels. The use of disappearing messages in particular raises questions about whether public records of district decision-making may have been destroyed or withheld from the public.
The final report will be made public once the board's inquiry is complete.