Hard to believe there are just two weeks left of school for the 2024-2025 school year here in Gorham! Time most certainly flies when you're having fun and learning! I have lots to share for the end of the school year, so I'll get right to it after showing off some great pictures of what's been happening in our schools over the past few weeks!
2025-2026 PARENT/GUARDIAN TRANSPORTATION SURVEY IS NOW OPEN! PLEASE COMPLETE BY JUNE 13 IF...
Each year the Gorham School Department puts out a parent/guardian survey for transportation services that we use to create our routes for the fall of 2025. This survey ONLY needs to be completed by families IF your child(ren) require transportation to an alternative site or daycare (not your home) OR IF you will not be needing school transportation for the 2025-2026 school year.
If you are that family, Please complete the survey by June 30, 2025. If you have questions, please call your school's office and they can assist you. Link is below. Thank you!
WHAT IS ON THE JUNE 10 BALLOT?
There are TWO questions on the June 10 ballot. You can see a full view of a SAMPLE Ballot by CLICKING HERE.
The First question asks: "Do You Favor approving the Town of Gorham School Budget for the 2025-2026 school year, which was adopted at the latest Town of Gorham Council meeting held May 13, 2025? Note: The Town Council recommends a "YES" vote."
__Yes
__No
If you vote "YES," you approve the budget passed by the Town Council on May 13 by a vote of 6-0. If the majority of voters vote "YES," then this will validate the budget, and the process for FY26 approval of the proposed school budget will be completed.
If you vote "NO," you disapprove of the budget passed by the Town Council on May 13, 6-0, and in essence, you are requesting that the budget be revised. If a majority of voters vote "NO," the budget would not be approved, and instead, a new process to create a second budget would begin. This process would require that, within 45 days, a new budget be brought back to voters for approval via a validation referendum ballot. This would require the School Committee to approve a new budget, which would then need to be approved by the Town Council. The latest budget would subsequently be brought back to voters for validation via the same question as above. Again, within 45 days.
For a school budget to be approved, it must follow three key steps:
1. Be approved by a majority of the School Committee
2. Be approved by a majority of Town Council Members
3. Be approved by a majority of voters voting in a validation referendum
A school budget is not approved until all three steps have been completed.
The Second question asks: "Do you wish to continue the School Budget Validation Referendum process in the Town of Gorham for an additional three years? A "YES" vote will require the Town of Gorham to continue to conduct a referendum election to validate its annual school budget for the next three years. A "NO" vote will discontinue the budget validation referendum election for at least three years and provide instead that the annual School Budget shall be adopted at a meeting of the Gorham Town Council."
__ Yes
__ No
This question must be placed on the ballot every three years by state statute. It asks voters if they want to continue the budget validation referendum process to approve the school budget on an annual basis. If you vote "YES," you want to continue the validation referendum process, which is step #3 above. If you vote "NO," you do not want to continue this process and instead would allow the school's budget to be adopted by the Town Council vote (step #2), and the process would end at that point.
Whether you vote "YES" or "NO" on either question - PLEASE GET OUT AND VOTE! Last year's school budget passed by a total of 2 votes...so there is no question that EVERY VOTE COUNTS. Make sure yours is one of them!☺
P.S. - The last day to request or vote an absentee ballot is June 5. You can vote absentee in person at the Clerk's office through June 5. You can also vote on June 10 at your designated polling location in Gorham. Polls will open on June 10 at 8:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m.
A LETTER TO THE GORHAM COMMUNITY FROM THE GORHAM SCHOOL COMMITTEEPlease see the letter from the Gorham School Committee to the Gorham community below...
Dear Community Member,
As your elected Gorham School Committee, we write to urge voters to support the proposed FY26 School Budget by voting YES on or before June 10.
This year’s budget process, which began back in October 2024, has been called our most collaborative budget season yet. We want to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our School District Leadership Team, Town Staff, the Gorham Town Council, and the Gorham Fiscal Sustainability Committee for their support and contributions that informed our final version of this school budget.
We understand the economic challenges facing our community. Throughout this process, the School Committee worked hard to balance the needs of our students and the impact to taxpayers. In doing so, we made difficult decisions just to maintain the status quo—including the elimination of teaching positions, reductions in central office and contracted services, and reductions through collaboration with the town.
Despite these reductions, the proposed budget reflects our top priorities:
Recruit and retain a high-quality educator workforce
Ensure safe, well-maintained school facilities
Sustain a reliable transportation staff
With this proposed budget, Gorham remains one of the most cost-efficient school systems in Cumberland County— ranking 12th of 13 in both per-pupil spending and system administration costs. At the same time, outcomes are strong: Gorham ranks 5th in graduation rates (96.5%), 94% of seniors graduate with an approved plan, and parent satisfaction exceeds 90% at all levels. We are proud of our students' accomplishments.
This budget reflects real community collaboration and represents the lowest requested school-related mill rate increase in over a decade. Last year, the school budget passed by just two votes. Your vote counts. We hope you will join us in moving Gorham forward by voting YES on or before June 10.
Sincerely,
The Gorham School Committee
Sarah Perkins, Chair Nicole Yeo-Fisher, Vice Chair
Mia Desanctis Michelle Littlefield
Jaci Reynolds Eric Thistle
Jennifer Whitehead
BUDGET ONE PAGERS ALL IN ONE PLACE!
Over the past few weeks, I have shared several budget informational "one-pagers" with the community. Some folks might like to see them all in one place! I have included them below in the order in which they were shared. If you want to learn more about our proposed budget, please use the QR code on the bottom right of each page or CLICK HERE.
END OF YEAR SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
Wow, just two full weeks of school remain, and boy, are we packing in all kinds of fun during those two weeks! Below is a list of highlights for school-year-end activities between now and June 13, the last day of school. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact your school's office.
At Gorham Schools, we always strive to end the year on a strong note. We don't just jog to the finish line! WE SPRINT! We are thrilled to have our families and community members cheering us on as we cross the finish line!
- June 2 - 5th grade band parent info night for 2025-2026 5th graders, 6:00 p.m. at Narragansett
- June 2 - Elementary Field Day, Gr. 3
- June 3 - Elementary Field Day, Gr. 4
- June 3 - Rising 6th Grade Parent Night, 6:00 p.m. at GMS.
- June 4 - Elementary Field Day, Gr. 5
- June 4 - GHS Spring Sports Awards, 6:00 p.m. at GHS MPAC
- June 5 - Senior Celebration, 6:30 p.m. at GHS MPAC
- June 6 - GHS Senior Walk, 9:00 - 11:00 a.m. at all five schools, will be live-streamed on the district's Facebook page. After is the Senior BBQ at 12:00 p.m. at GHS outside on the athletic fields.
- June 8 - GHS Graduation, 4:00 p.m. at GHS Competition Field. Afterwards, at 7:00, the Class of 2025 Convoy Celebration will take place through downtown Gorham.
- June 10 - GO VOTE!
- June 11 - GMS Step Up Day
- June 12 - Elementary Step Up Day
- June 12 - 8th grade celebration and parade, 5:00 p.m. at GMS.
- June 13 - Final Day of School for Students, dismissed on ER schedule.
Several other activities are being conducted across our schools, not listed here, such as 5th-grade celebrations or Kindergarten walks. However, these events are individual to each school, so families should stay tuned to notifications from their schools regarding these events.
GHS SENIOR EXPERIENCES GOING STRONG! NICE WORK, CLASS OF 2025!
Each year, during the last two weeks in May, GHS seniors are invited to participate in job shadowing experiences or two-week-long internship experiences. Seniors must complete an application to participate, which includes details about their experience, any learning goals they may have, and a complete proposal. These proposals are then reviewed by school staff and approved. This year, 150 proposals were approved!
I thought folks might like to see a listing of these learning opportunities for our students that perhaps test scores don't capture, but are most definitely in alignment with our mission/vision to "PREPARE AND INSPIRE" all students for their future success!
CLICK HERE to view the list of topics! AWESOME JOB, CLASS OF 2025, and THANK YOU to all those who hosted our seniors during these incredible learning experiences!
TRANSITIONS TO SUMMER - GUIDANCE FROM PARENTGUIDANCE.ORG!
Over the past few years, I have shared with families several FREE resources that are provided by the parentguidance.org organization, which is under the umbrella of the Cook Center for Human Connection - a national non-profit focused on preventing suicide and providing high-quality mental health supports to teens and families.
This group publishes a monthly newsletter, and their June newsletter is worth sharing in its entirety, as it discusses how families can help children transition from school to summer.
Please CLICK HERE to read the newsletter. I hope you find it full of helpful tips to consider!
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR RETIREES!
At the conclusion of this school year we are going to have several folks retiring and I wanted to just take a quick moment to say CONGRATULATIONS to each and celebrate the many years of service to our schools and the students we serve so passionately. You will EACH be missed but we wish you the best as you begin to write the next chapters of your lives!
Retiring Teachers:
- Anton Gulovsen - 8th grade Science @ GMS - 25 years
- Donna Pastore - Literacy/Math Lab Teacher @ GMS - 26 years
- Rolande Paolino - Grade 5 Teacher at Great Falls - 26 years
- Frank DeFrancesco - P.E. Teacher @ Great Falls - 32 years
- Liz Collins - Literacy/Math Lab Teacher @ Village - 23 years
- Stacey Sawyer - School Counselor @ Village - 26 years
- John Caterina - Chemistry Teacher @ GHS - 37 years
Retiring Support Staff:
- Manya Pease - Ed. Tech @ GMS - 23 years
- Nancy Owens - Ed. Tech @ Village - 20 years
- Gael Ketch - Ed. Tech @ Narragansett - 18 years
- Deidre Hamblen - Ed. Tech @ Village - 18 years
- Dan Cheung - Ed. Tech @ GMS - 15 years
- Paula Suttle - Ed. Tech @ GHS - 10 years
- Ralph Clark - Bus Driver - 24 years
- Barbara Hines - Bus Driver - 24 years
- Don Hines - Bus Driver - 14 years
- Jerry Lessard - Bus Driver - 5 years
- Mary Kate Flaherty - Special Ed. Admin. Assistant - 13 years
- Rhonda Warren - Superintendent's Administrative Assistant - 40 years.
DO YOU HAVE A MIDDLE SCHOOL ATHLETE TRANSITIONING TO HS ATHLETICS? THEN THIS EVENT IS FOR YOU!
The Gorham Action Team for Youth (G.A.T.Y.) is sponsoring an informational night for student-athletes and their families who are incoming 9th graders and are interested in playing athletics at the high school level. This event has guest speakers Tim Spear (Gorham Athletic Director) and Lee Anne Dodge (SOPO Unite Program Director) talking about eligibility expectations and health choices!
If you want to set your child up for success as a HS level student athlete, you should definitely consider attending! See flyer for details!
COMMUNITY EVENT: GALILEE SUMMER BLOCK PARTY!
Are you looking for a good family friendly event in Gorham to help entertain the students who will be "bored" 2 days in from the start of summer vacation? Galilee Church is hosting a summer block party that might offer some relief - at least temporarily! Check out the details below if you are interested!
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND, EVERYONE! MY NEXT AND FINAL BLOG FOR 2024-2025 WILL BE ON JUNE 13TH!
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