Portland has hired two new administrators to fill top leadership roles overseeing elementary and secondary education.

The district announced the two new assistant superintendents at a school board meeting Tuesday night.

Beverly Stevens (Courtesy of Portland Public Schools)

To fill the assistant superintendent of elementary schools role, the district has tapped Beverly Stevens, current principal at Ocean Avenue Elementary School and a district administrator since 2009.

“I’m very excited to step into these shoes,” she told the board on Tuesday evening. “It’s been 17 years as a principal in Portland Public Schools and I’m ready for a change, and this was a perfect one.”

Stevens replaces outgoing assistant superintendent Angela Atkinson Duina, who was hired to lead South Portland Public Schools in May.

For the assistant superintendent of secondary schools role, Portland is bringing in Tremain Holloway, a school administrator and former math teacher originally from North Carolina who most recently worked in Boston Public Schools as a strategic adviser to the superintendent.

“I’m excited to partner and learn alongside you as we serve the students and families of Portland Public Schools,” Holloway said Tuesday.

Tremain Holloway (Courtesy of Portland Public Schools)

He’ll fill the role held since 2023 by Abdullahi Ahmed, who is now in a newly created third assistant superintendent position for family and community engagement.

The creation of a third assistant superintendent position was a point of tension amid the latest budget session.

During budget discussions, board members proposed cuts to the central office and suggested pausing hiring on the new leadership roles, although those proposals were not adopted.

The growing number of high-level administrators was a primary concern the district’s teacher union cited when it initially encouraged voters not to support the school budget this year; the union later reversed course after discussions with the district, which committed to looking at cost reductions in the central office next year.

The budget was ultimately approved by wide margins.

Both Stevens and Holloway will earn $157,500.

Board Chair Sarah Lentz expressed satisfaction with both hires. She said she was excited for Stevens’ next chapter in Portland schools, and that Holloway’s strengths will be a great complement to the leadership team.