Oregon Public Broadcasting

A former Portland school administrator has been fired from her job in Iowa. Maxine Kilcrease is also the target of three separate investigations into her spending practices as director of the Iowa Association of School Boards.

Kilcrease got that job in 2006, after serving as a top administrator at Portland Public Schools. U.S. Senator from Iowa, Tom Harkin, has asked federal education officials to look into whether Kilcrease broke any federal laws.  Iowa officials say the FBI is involved. 

Kilcrease came back to Oregon in early March for her mother’s funeral, and hasn’t returned to Iowa. That’s prompted Iowa state senator Tom Courtney to prepare to subpoena her.


“We’ve begun to look into the allegations of Maxine Kilcrease, gave herself pay raises and did some other things that seemed not legal. We’re not sure that they’re not legal, but they seem not legal. We want to get into that. We asked for her appearance; she ignored those requests. We haven’t heard a thing from her," he said.

Courtney acknowledged the Iowa legislative subpoena may not carry legal weight in Oregon.

Courtney said the Iowa Association of School Boards has also hired an outside law firm to do an internal investigation.