Former Assistant Superintendent in Portland Caught in Iowa Scandal

A former assistant superintendent with Portland Public Schools is the subject of a widening investigation in Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register.

The Iowa Association of School Boards put Maxine Kilcrease on paid leave on March 11, "nine days after she reimbursed the taxpayer-funded group $59,000 for extra pay she had collected from the organization."

Almost immediately after that, the scope of the investigation widened to include the FBI, the daily newspaper reported. Kilcrease had worked at the school boards association as its executive director only since July but she appears to have gotten a raise soon after joining the taxpayer-funded group. Her pay started at $210,000 last summer. According to the Register:

Before she was placed on leave, Kilcrease was collecting a salary that averaged $367,000 annually — the result of a pay increase never approved by the full board. There are also allegations of conflicts of interest and misuse of school district money.

Kilcrease worked for PPS from 2000 to 2006. She was an assistant superintendent from 2003 to 2006. Before that, she was the director of special education and other programs in the Portland district. A longtime Oregonian, Kilcrease also worked for the Gresham-Barlow School District, according to an announcement from the Heartland Area Education Agency in Iowa, where Kilcrease moved immediately following her resignation from PPS.