At Monday evening’s meeting of the Portland City Council, Board of Public Education Chair Sarah Lentz presented the annual State of the Schools address, highlighting the district’s diverse demographics and high percentage of students learning the English language.

Similar to her address to the City Council last year, Lentz began her presentation with a mix of a guided meditation and land acknowledgement.

“Take a few deep breaths,” Lentz said. “Roll your shoulders back, wiggle your toes, and push your feet into the floor, a floor that sits on land that our city and schools are built upon, unceded land of the Wabanaki, the people of dawn.”

Lentz then turned to the demographics of the Portland Public Schools district, Maine’s largest school district with 10 elementary schools, three middle schools and four high schools.

Across all schools, the district has 6,571 students, with 30 percent of those students being English language learners, and nearly one fifth (18%) receiving special education services, Lentz said.

“Our students are also incredibly racially and ethnically diverse, with almost 53% of our students being students of color,” Lentz added.

The next topic of Lentz’s presentation was the district’s new five-year Strategic Plan, which was formulated by Superintendent Ryan Scallon alongside community members and other partners earlier this year.

The district’s Strategic Plan has five pillars: equity, achievement, whole student, people and systems.

“First, Equity,” Lentz said, going over each part of the strategic plan. “We strive to be an anti-racist, inclusive district by rooting out systemic inequities and vigilantly supporting each student to achieve their potential.”

For achievement, Lentz said that the district will “enhance academic preparedness for college and career and instill a joy of learning in our students by delivering a universally accessible, rigorous, and equitable curriculum.”

The third category, “Whole Student, Connected Community,” refers to the district partnering with families and communities organizations to “nurture supportive, inclusive school communities that promote belonging and engagement.”

“People,” the fourth strategy, related to recruitment and retention of staff in the district, while the last strategy, “Systems,” affirms the district’s commitment to implementing “consistent and clear operational procedures and systems that enhance equity, efficacy, and accountability across Portland Public Schools.”

Lentz, now in her third term as chair of Portland’s Board of Education, commented at a Board meeting following the November general election that immigrants have “come under attack” due to the election of Donald Trump, and said that the district is preparing for potential mass deportations of immigrants by the incoming Trump administration.

Lentz claimed that “one of the groups of our community that has recently come under attack in the administrative changes is our beloved immigrant and refugee community,” adding that the alleged “attack” will “likely only intensify.”

“Just a reminder, that there are no current plans for mass deportation or other action, but we’re doing everything that we can to be prepared should this become the case,” Lentz said.