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Portland Schools Superintendent Used Encrypted Signal App for District Business, Raising Public Records Concerns
Superintendent Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong and other PPS leaders used Signal, an encrypted messaging app with disappearing messages, to discuss public business over a 10-month span, potentially violating Oregon public records law. The disclosure follows a leaked Signal exchange at a school board meeting that led to the chief of staff's resignation.
Portland Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong and other district leaders conducted conversations about official business on the encrypted messaging app Signal over a 10-month period, according to screenshots reviewed by Willamette Week. Some of the chats used Signal's disappearing messages feature, which automatically deletes messages after a set time, potentially violating district policy and Oregon public records law.
A PPS spokesperson told Willamette Week that "Signal is not a district-approved platform for conducting official PPS communications" and that the district is "taking action to determine whether any messages would constitute public records and, if so, whether they can be recovered." The district is obligated under state law and its own policy to preserve communications related to the official duties of public officials.
Public interest lawyer Alan Kessler said the use of Signal for public business, combined with auto-deletion, amounts to a breach of public records law. "Signal is designed to make it hard to save messages," Kessler said. "Oregon has laws that make it a crime to destroy public records for public officials. Every single time one of those officials is turning on auto-delete and then conducting the public's business, that's criminal activity." Other public records experts cautioned that legality would depend on the specific contents of the messages and noted that state law around digital communications is still evolving.
The revelations deepen a controversy that began at an October 20 Portland School Board meeting at Benson Polytechnic High School. Someone seated behind PPS and Procedeo employee Sarah Norman photographed an unflattering Signal exchange on Norman's phone. The images, first reported by political commentator Max Steele, showed Norman texting PPS chief of staff Deborah Kafoury. "Stephanie is an asshole," Kafoury wrote, apparently referring to board member Stephanie Engelsman. Norman replied, "We are ready to walk out."
Engelsman told Willamette Week that Kafoury called to apologize after the images circulated, which Engelsman took as an implicit confirmation the photos were authentic. "Deborah was very professional, was very apologetic," Engelsman said. "I don't begrudge her for her response at all." Neither Kafoury nor Norman responded to requests for comment.
The episode drew sharp criticism on social media, including from Rank-and-File Educators for Democracy, a caucus of the Oregon Education Association, which posted on Instagram: "Signal only helps you evade public records law if people can't see your screen!"
Just a week after the leaked exchange, Kafoury resigned as chief of staff, effective January 4. In a letter to Armstrong, Kafoury said she had intended to step down later this year but delayed her departure to complete key projects.
The use of encrypted messaging apps by public officials has drawn scrutiny elsewhere in Oregon. A few years ago, members of the Eugene School Board faced controversy over their use of Signal, and a lawyer advised them at the time that liability for erased messages was unclear.
The disclosure raises questions about transparency and accountability at Oregon's largest school district, which serves tens of thousands of students. Public records advocates say the use of auto-deleting messages for official business undermines the public's ability to oversee government operations.