About seven weeks after putting her on paid administrative leave, Portland Public Schools this week fired Diana Fernandez, director of the district's department for teaching English as a second language.

The change comes on the heels of a Nov. 30 decision by the Portland School Board to make wholesale reforms to the ESL department, which has been plagued by numerous state and federal findings of severe deficiencies. The department has been out of compliance with federal and state rules regarding English-language learners for 13 of the past 17 years.

Last March, Fernandez filed a civil rights complaint with Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries against PPS alleging discrimination. A spokeswoman for BOLI says this morning the complaint was dismissed Aug. 27 for lack of evidence.

Fernandez did not immediately return a call for comment.