The Portland School Committee has appointed F. Mark Terison as the school district’s chief operations officer.

The committee made the appointment at Wednesday night’s meeting, following the recommendation of Superintendent James C. Morse Sr. Terison, an attorney, will oversee employee and labor relations and supervise the district’s food services, transportation, facilities and information technology departments, according to a release sent out today.

He has worked since 2001 as a court-appointed special advocate for children and teens in the care of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, and as a surrogate parent for the Maine Department of Education, the release said.

From 1994 to 2008, Terison served as assistant U.S. attorney and senior litigation counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice in Portland. He created and implemented a legal ethics program and also held the position of public information officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland. 

His previous positions include senior attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. (1993-1994), Assistant Attorney General in Maine (1989-1993), and Assistant District Attorney in Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties (1979-1980).

Terison served on the Falmouth School Board for nine years, from 1973-1976 and from 2004 until last June. He chaired the board for two years in the mid-1970s. He also served on Falmouth school committees involved with facilities and teacher negotiations, and he represented Falmouth on the Portland Arts and Technology High School Advisory Committee from 2007 to 2010. 

Terison earned a bachelor’s degree at Bowdoin College and a law degree at the University of Maine School of Law.