Information Update: Narragansett Cafeteria/Kitchen

Given the Town Council Agenda item # 2020-3-7 and proposed Order # 20-035 on the Gorham Town Council agenda coming right up on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, I thought it might be prudent to ensure Gorham School families are accurately informed of what this proposed order is about, and its implications to our students so that you can decide whether you wish to become more involved as citizens of this community to express your opinions to our elected officials.  A copy of the language from the Town Council Agenda is below:

This agenda item may sound innocent enough, and if reading without context it may even seem supportive and helpful in continuing the work the School Department is undertaking to address our continued growth.  As helpful as this item may seem, and as may even be intended, the consequences of this item being approved have significant implications to our students that may not be as helpful as they appear on the surface.

A Little & Background Context

In order to understand this dichotomy, it is important to go back to where the story began to provide context.  This story takes us back to the spring of 2019 when the School Committee first brought the concept of the modular expansion to the Town Council to request a referendum for $2.8 million in funding.

The original proposal was to add 6 modular classroom spaces at Narragansett Elementary School along with bathrooms, mechanical spaces and a modular cafeteria space.  A drawing of the original proposal is below:

In the image above, you can see that the modulars are connected to the original building through a corridor that is located off the backside of the gymnasium.  The original plan developed in the spring of 2019 was to continue to use the existing kitchen space (which is located in the gymnasium) and to close down PE classes 2 times per day for a period of 10-15 minutes each.  This time was intended to allow us to prep food in the existing location space, transport the food via steam tables, etc. from the kitchen space to the cafeteria space, serve food to the students in the cafeteria space and then collect used trays, etc. and transport those back to the existing cafeteria to be cleaned.  In the spring of 2019, a full year and 1/2 away from when we planned on opening this expansion, we believed this plan could work programmatically.  Unfortunately, as often occurs, information changed and we became aware in mid-October of 2019 that this plan was not going to work as originally designed.  

What is the Problem?

The problem is that until this fall, we hadn't had a chance to develop the fully formed allied arts schedule (PE, Music, Art, Technology/Social skills, and Library) that we would need to have operational at Narragansett Elementary School with almost 100 more students for the opening of the 2020-21 school year.  It wasn't until this fall that we were able to ask Principals to identify the staff shifts that were needed, and to develop the detailed schedules needed to make a school of 380 students work, to include a fully developed Allied Arts schedule.  When we were able to develop this schedule, it became clear that we would NOT have the ability to shut down PE classes (as part of our allied arts schedule) for the times needed to safely transport food as we had originally planned, unless we significantly impacted the time students had for these important educational services. 

As you can imagine, changes to our allied arts schedules, which have staff that are shared between schools, and are also the manner in which we provide our teaching staff with contractually required planning time, can have significant impacts to the operations of our schools that spider out in very complex ways that are hard to predict.  Once we became aware of this problem, we immediately jumped into "problem-solving mode" to see if we could determine a way to address these issues and still meet the overall educational needs of the children we are charged to serve.  Through the hard work of our district leadership team, our facilities director, myself and our School Committee we were able to determine a solution that would not require us to ask the taxpayers of Gorham for additional funding in order to address and solve this problem that would otherwise negatively impact the educational programming for our students.

The Solution

The solution we have come up with involves going forward with a plan that we already had in mind for either Phase II or Phase III of the original modular addition plan.  This would involve moving the existing kitchen to a new location on the side of the modular cafeteria to create a fully operational kitchen that is adjoined to the cafeteria space to create one "cafeteria space" where food can be prepared and served to students in one location in such a manner as would not impact our PE classes going on in the existing gymnasium.  We would consider this a "change order" to our existing modular expansion project which has already been approved by voters via referendum last June.

Below is a drawing of what this kitchen space would look like:

The costs associated with this change order would NOT require additional taxpayer funding.  How is this possible one might ask?  Well let me explain the funding portion before we go too much further.

The Funding

The total amount that was approved by voters to spend on this project in June was $2.8 million dollars for the expansion of modular classrooms, associated mechanical spaces and cafeteria spaces.  Of that $2.8 million, we utilized $859,600.00 to lease purchase the modular spaces themselves.  We then bonded $1,940,000.00 to pay for the site work, mechanical work, connector work, etc. to take those spaces and make them functional for the purposes outlined (6 additional classrooms, bathrooms, mechanical spaces, and cafeteria space).

Within that $1,940,000.00 bond budget, we have identified "savings" within the existing project in the amount of approximately $480,000.00.  These savings have been identified because several of the subcontracted components of the work (connector, mechanical, building finishes, etc.) came in with bids lower than anticipated and because we had originally built in a contingency for the project in an amount of a little over $150,000.00.  Additionally, knowing that this was a complex project with many moving parts, we had built into our FY 20 Capital Improvement Budget, a line for "Narragansett School Modular Connector, Site work, and Building Outfitting" in the amount of $249,000.00.  This budget was approved by the Town Council and by voters via the budget validation referendum, also in June of 2019.

So when we combine the "savings" from the bonded funds in the amount of approximately $480,000.00 and the funds that sit in our FY 20 CIPS budget in the amount of $249,000.00, we get a total of $729,000.00 which is what we believe it would take to move forward with the movement of the kitchen space from its existing location to the new location adjoined to the cafeteria space.

The Complexities At Play

If we can do this work within the existing approved bond and/or FY 20 funds, one might now question WHY IS THE TOWN COUNCIL DISCUSSING ADDING A REFERENDUM QUESTION FOR VOTERS TO APPROVE THIS PROJECT IN JUNE?  A great question indeed, and one the School Committee has already wrestled with before making its decision on Feb. 26, 2020 in a vote of 6-1 to move forward with the kitchen move after having thoroughly discussed the complexities at play.

There is some argument that by utilizing the $249,000.00 in our FY  20 CIPS budget towards work associated with this project that we are in fact overspending the total project which was approved by voters in the amount of $2.8 million dollars.  The School Department's legal counsel and the School Committee disagree with this interpretation because of how we have divided the costs associated with moving forward.  You can view our full legal opinion by CLICKING HERE.  Basically, what we have done is divided the costs associated with this change order into two "buckets".  The first is the structural components of the additional space.  The frame, the floor, the electrical, mechanical associated with the construction of the "shell" of the kitchen.  These components are being paid via the remaining $480,000.00 in the bond.  The $249,000.00 from FY  20 CIPS funds would be used solely for the purpose of funding the wiring and mechanical/plumbing associated with the movement of existing kitchen equipment (stoves, vents, coolers, dishwashers, etc) into the new space and hooking them back up so that they are fully functional in the new space.  By making this distinction in funding sources we are in effect using the FY 20 CIPS funding for the appropriate purposes associated with annual CIPS funding which is approved annually by voters vs. for purposes that would require a separate voter referendum question.  Again, our legal council agrees with this interpretation.

To add to this complexity, and to be honest, to get at the crux of the issue itself and why the School Committee voted 6-1 to move forward is actually an issue not related directly related to funding.  The REAL ISSUE for the School Committee and for those of you who are parents is actually one of TIMING.

The problem is that if we put this question to a referendum in June, it would mean that we would have to halt progress on this work UNTIL JUNE.  Any of you who have tried to build anything in Maine understand the problem this creates...we would, in essence, lose 2.5 months of work time to complete this project and to ensure that the kitchen is fully operational for the start of school in late August 2020.

The reality is that if we don't move forward  NOW, we will miss the window needed to complete the work in time for school to begin in August.  If we miss that window, we will in effect be forced to go with our original plan which we realized earlier this year would not work due to negative impacts to students and overall costs.  Again, those negative impacts to students and to the school system are:

-  Having to reduce PE time for students at Narragansett School in order to allow food to be transported safely from the existing kitchen space to the cafeteria and back again.  This would create an inequitable situation between Narragansett School and the other two K-5 schools.
-  As a result, not having this time available to use to provide planning time for Narragansett teachers per the negotiated contract.  This means we would likely have to add additional staffing to provide this planning time, which would have the impact of reducing overall instruction time for all students at Narragansett Elementary in other areas.
-  Also as a result of this, we would need to hire additional kitchen staff for the year to assist in transporting food and other materials back and forth to the cafeteria.
-  Finally, we would have to purchase about $150,000.00 in additional kitchen equipment to carry out our original plans for transporting food from one location to another.

The Bottom Line:

The bottom line is that although the Town Council has every right to place a question on a referendum in June, the implications of the Town Council voting to do this at their meeting on  Tuesday night would not only increase overall costs, but also dramatically impact our students in a negative way.  Those negative impacts to our students would be:

-  Loss of instructional time at one school in the specific areas of Physical Education.
-  Loss of planning time for teachers, having impacts across all classrooms and the overall quality of our programming for students.

Please know that this information is being shared NOT to admonish the Town Council for doing their due diligence and for performing their fiduciary responsibilities as our elected officials.  I share this information so that parents fully understand the implications of this vote in a timely enough manner to be able to express your views to your elected officials if you wish to do so.

If you wish to share your views, you may:

-  Attend the Town Council meeting and speak during the public comment portion.  The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 10 at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers
-  Email Town Council members.  You can do so by going to the site LINKED HERE.
-  Email School Committee members.  You can do so by going to the site LINKED HERE.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me at heather,perry@gorhamschools.org.

Please know that regardless of the outcomes of Tuesday night, the Gorham Schools will continue to strive to provide the best educational programming possible for all of our students.

THANK YOU!

February Update

Introduction and THANK-YOU's:

This blog post will focus mainly on providing K-5 families an update on our Attendance zone shifts and where we are with planning associated with this change in preparation for the opening of the 2020-21 school year.  I'll have several other updates in this blog post as well and will use clear headings to hopefully allow readers to thoroughly review the parts that interest them, and skim through the rest.

Before I get to the "meat" of this update, however, I wanted to share a few "Thank You's" to folks that have helped me remain focused on the right things as an educational leader recently.  The pace of this work is pretty fast, and the pressures are often pretty strong since in this job we don't work with building "widgets" but in building young adults and preparing them for their successful futures.  No small feat indeed, but one I am proud to say I believe we here in Gorham do a very good job of.

This success does not come without a cost and often the cost is emotional stress, burnout, and all the negatives associated with performing such an emotionally charged job day in and day out.  For me, the only way I remain focused on the "right things" (supporting our students and staff) is by getting out into classrooms, interacting with students and staff and seeing for myself what their needs are.

Recently, I had the awesome experience of shadowing Elijah from GHS.  Elijah is a student at GHS who also attends the Plumbing and Heating Program at Portland Arts and Technology High School (PATHS).  When I shadowed Elijah he was learning about how to solder pipes in order to install heat into a modular home they were building that will eventually be sold to an actual home buyer in the area.  The instructor was incredible and the students were awesome!  What a great program and what incredible learning experiences we are able to offer our students who participate in Career and Technical Learning at either PATHS or Westbrook Regional Vocational Center (WRVC).  Thank you, Elijah and team, for an awesome day of learning!

I have also recently had the opportunity to participate in reading aloud to students as part of Great Fall's "One school one author" program and more recently as part of World Read Aloud Day and the "Read To ME" challenge.  Please know the crown was a gift from students and when I was done reading, I challenged all my building principals and AP's to read aloud to classrooms as well. If you are a twitter follower, you can check #ReadtoME to see how this program is spreading across the state!  I'd encourage you to read to a child, post a picture/video with that hashtag and challenge your own friends/family to do the same!

THANK YOU to the classroom teachers who invited me into their classrooms to read.  I will often tell students when I come in to read that reading to them is like "recess" . . . it is FUN for me to get out and see them and to laugh and learn with them.  Although this is absolutely true, the reality goes deeper than that.  It is only through experiences like these that I can remain grounded as a leader.  These experiences help me to get through the more stressful parts of my job and to focus on what really counts - SUPPORTING OUR STUDENTS and OUR STAFF!

Now on to the "meat" of this post...

K-5 Attendance Zone Planning:

In my last posting regarding the K-5 Attendance zone shifts, I stated that during the month of February, I would be prepared to share what we anticipate to be the staffing shifts for 2020-21 associated with the K-5 attendance zone change.  As promised, those changes are outlined below.  

Before I share those, just a quick clarifying statement. . . These staffing lists are our best attempt to make assignments for the 2020-21 School year based on what we currently know.  THESE ARE NOT YET FINAL, nor can they be until we complete the FY 21 budget process.  Therefore, please understand that these assignments are still subject to change as we move through the FY 21 budget development process.  

With that caveat in mind, here is the staffing list we anticipate for the 2020-21 school year across each of the K-5 Schools:

* Sue Small above should be "Sue Speed" - apologies!

Those names that are highlighted in yellow are teachers who will be changing assignments in the 2020-21 School year.  If they are coming from another school that is noted in the parathesis and if they are moving grade levels, but within the same school that is also noted.  These will be the grade level teams at each school for 2020-21 barring adjustments that may need to be made as part of the FY 21 budget development process.

Now that we know grade-level assignments, we are prepared to work through student assignments to specific classrooms in a similar manner to how it has always been done at the K-5 levels.  The only difference will be that we will be cognizant to place students who may be moving from one school to a  new school in groups of peers who are experiencing the same shifts and with the teachers who are most skilled at working with these types of transitions.  As parents, if you have any questions or concerns, I would urge you to reach out to your school's principal.

In my last blog post, I also promised an update to K-5 parents on the various transition activities that are being planned for the spring to assist students, families, and staff in making this transition as positive an experience as possible.  Please know that the list below is not an "all-inclusive" list.  It is constantly being discussed and revised as we work through the spring.  I hope this list provides at least a starting point for conversation and an understanding of the types of things we are trying to do to assist families in this transition process.  Also, please note that some of these activities are "typical" activities that each school plans annually.  Principals are noting these activities both for new families that might want to join in on these activities, but also to know that for those families who may be having to move that they are still welcome to attend and in fact, encouraged to do so as a way to help children "let go" of one school and embrace a new one.

Here's the list:

2019-2020 K-5 Transition Activities
Dates	Students	Parents/Families
Nov. 4 - June 2020	Ongoing Building Tours for New Families at Narragansett Ongoing Access to Principal Remick RE: Transition and Individual Student Needs cynthia.remick@gorhamschools.org  or (207) 222-1250 Invitation to follow Narragansett’s Social Media Sites Facebook: Narragansett Elementary School@narragansettgorham Twitter: Narragansett School@Narragansett_ES Instagram: Narragansett School@narragansett.gorhamschools.org/
	Family Movie Night at Narr. (6:00-8:30) has been moved to Feb. 28 due to recent snow days.  Admission is FREE!
Week of Feb. 10, 2020	Student to Student Welcome Letters will be distributed
Feb. 10, 2020		Invitation to attend Narragansett PIE Meeting (6:00-7:00, Library)
Week of Feb. 24. 2020	Cross grade level lunch groups (GF)
Feb. 28, 2020	Great Falls One School/ One Book Family Literacy Night	Great Falls One School/ One Book Family Literacy Night
March 3, 2020		Kindergarten Parent Information Night (5:30, Gym)
March 9, 2020		Invitation to attend Narragansett PIE Meeting (6:00-7:00, Library)
March 10, 2020		K-5 Parent Information Night RE: Cyber Safety at Narragansett (6:00-7:00, Library)
March 27, 2020	Invitation to attend the Narragansett Family Skate Night (or Bowling Night) (We are looking for a replacement event for going to Happy Wheels)
March 30 - June 9, 2020	K-5 staff will share known information regarding Individual students across schools as applicable to assist with the classroom placement process. Some Narragansett staff members (social worker, special education, etc.) will visit Great Falls and Village to meet select students	Principal Remick will invite families to share information regarding individual students to assist with the classroom placement process, as well as the transition to Narragansett School
April 3, 2020	Village School Family Movie Night (6-7:30 p.m.)	Village School Family Movie Night (6-7:30 p.m.)
April 1  - May 3, 2020	Invitation to participate in the Narragansett 5K, 1-Mile & Fun Run Event on May 3rd
April 13, 2020		Invitation to attend Narragansett PIE Meeting (6:00-7:00, Library)
April 15, 2020	Invitation to attend the Narragansett Talent Show (6:00-7:00, Gym)
April 16, 2020	Invitation to attend the Elementary Musical ~ Wizard of Oz at GMS
Late April & May	Transition Visits for Individual Students with staff from the sending school
May 3, 2020	Invitation to attend the Narragansett 5K, 1-Mile & Fun Run Event (8:00-12:00)
May 8, 2020	Great Falls Family Fun and Wellness Night	Great Falls Family Fun and Wellness Night
May 11, 2020		Invitation to attend Narragansett PIE Meeting (6:00-7:00, Library)
May 14, 2020		K-5 Parent Step-Up Night for Grades 1-5 (6:00-7:00)
May 21, 2020	Invitation to attend the Narragansett Art Show and Spring Picnic (5:30-7:00)
May 2020 TBD	Village School Celebration of Curriculum	Village School Celebration of Curriculum
May 27-June 3, 2020	Grade Level Field Days at USM
June 2020 TBD	Village School Spring Fling	Village School Spring Fling
June 2020 TBD	Great Falls EOY Family Picnic	Great Falls EOY Family Picnic
June 2020 TBD	Step Up Day for Current Grade 1-4 Students; All students will receive a small gift

Once again, please reach out to building Principals if you have any questions regarding any of these activities and know that this is not an all-inclusive list.  We will continue to update this list and get information out to parents via Thursday folders regarding these opportunities and others that may be added throughout the course of the spring.

FY 21 Budget Development Information and Timeline:

It is definitely that time of year again as we work with staff, administrators, the School Committee, Town Council and the Gorham community as a whole to develop our school budget for FY 21 (2020-21 school year).  This process begins each year in November as we ask teachers and other staff to think about what they need to operate their programs for the following year.  Building principals and program directors then work diligently over the course of November and December to put together their proposals.  Then in January, each principal and program director meets individually with myself, assistant superintendent Record and business manager Hollis Cobb to review each request line by line by line.  Once that process is completed, we then put together an initial proposed budget and then work together as a district leadership team to clarify priorities, make adjustments and create what is called the Superintendent's Initial Proposed budget that is presented to the School Committee in February.  

That is where we are in the process right now.  The Superintendent's proposed budget will be presented to the School Committee on Feb. 12, 2020, for review.  The School Committee will then meet for a full day budget workshop on Feb. 29, 2020, and then for one or two more meetings (as needed) to make adjustments to the initial proposal so that by the end of this work, they approve of a proposed budget in April 2020.  This budget then becomes the School Committee's proposed budget.  This budget is then sent on to the Town Council.  The School Committee then meets jointly with the Town Council to review the proposed budget in May 2020 and then the Town Council votes on a final budget in June.  The final budget approved by the Town Council is then sent on to the voters of Gorham via a validation referendum also held in June.  Although the Town Council can't make line item changes to the budget, they can increase or reduce the proposed budget.  Whatever final budget they approve must be "validated" by voters via referendum or the whole process repeats itself until a budget can be passed by the School Committee, the Town Council and validated via referendum.

For those interested in the specific dates/times of meetings, I've included the Budget Development Timeline for FY 21 LINKED HERE.  All meetings will be either lived streamed or recorded this year using GoCat.  I will also make sure to upload information as we move through the process to the district's website which is LINKED HERE.  Finally, I encourage anyone with questions to please reach out to me via email to ask any questions you may have, big or small.  There is nothing worse than misinformation so please don't be shy in asking questions if you have them.  You may not always agree with my answers, but I promise to always respond to your questions honestly!

School Committee Public Information:

Recently, I've had several questions from folks about how best to follow some of the big-ticket conversations that the school committee has been undertaking in order to ensure we continue to offer the best possible educational programs for our children.  I thought it might be a good idea to run through the best places to find information related to the work of the school committee in one location.  So here goes.

First, for those of you that would like to have regular meeting agendas sent to you via email, you can sign up on the Town's website for that.  Just CLICK HERE and once on the town's site go to the bottom of the page and click on "Subscribe"...when you get to that page, just fill in your email address and then under "Meeting agenda" select "School Committee" and you will be good to go to have agendas sent directly to you.

Of course, seeing the agenda is just part of the equation.  Seeing agenda packet materials will give you more detailed information if you want to dig more deeply into a topic the school committee is considering.  In order to see the specific agenda packets provided to the school committee for all regular meetings, CLICK HERE to go to our website where you can view all regular and special agendas, all regular and special meeting notes, and where there is a specific link to click into the board packets themselves.

Another great way to follow the work of the School Committee is to follow the work done within its various subcommittees.  The School Committee has several standing committees and ad hoc committees.  You can view agendas and meeting notes by CLICKING HERE.  

Finally, if you ever want to reach out to members of the School Committee to ask questions or to share your ideas, you can CLICK HERE to view their names and contact information.  I typically advise folks that wish to communicate directly with school committee members to please email the chair (Stewart McCallister) and then cc the remaining members and myself on your message.  That always seems to get the best and most efficient response.  Please know that even though you may email all SC members, you will only get a response from either the chair or myself.  This is simply intended to ensure that a consistent message is being sent to folks with questions and does not mean that every member of the school committee hasn't read your email or correspondence, because trust me, they have.

Well I think that is enough information for this month's blog post.  Next month I'll spend some time providing more detailed information regarding the proposed FY 21 budget, I will update folks on how we are moving forward with addressing the capital facilities needs of our schools and whatever other timely topics come up between now and then!

Thank you for reading!

QUICK Update on Recent GHS Building Project & Planned Next Steps

I wanted to be sure to get information out to parents regarding what I perceive were the results of last night's joint meeting between the Gorham Town Council and the Gorham School Committee on the proposed GHS building project.  I've already heard a nice little "buzz" on social media today - so I wanted to try and get some factual information out there for folks, as best I could.  I also wanted to encourage folks that have questions to please reach out to me with those questions so I can answer them accurately.  Nothing worse than misinformation in the age of information for sure! ☺

The first piece of misinformation I wish to correct would be the headlines in today's American Journal that state the GHS project was "shot down"... nice headline, but not fully accurate.

Before I give a rundown of the outcomes of the meeting itself, I wanted to be sure to share all the informational materials that were shared last night with the Town Council and members of the public who attended.  CLICK HERE to see the meeting agenda and resource material links found at the bottom of the agenda.  There is LOTS of information there - but I think it is labeled clearly enough so folks can follow along if you'd like.  If you run into questions - again - please ask!

Overall, I believe the meeting went as well as could be expected when upwards of a $72 million dollar capital building project is being requested by the Gorham School Committee to meet the needs of our overcrowded and aging high school.  This is no small "ask" being made by the School Committee who thoroughly understands both the implications of moving forward with this plan and, often just as important, the implications of NOT moving forward with this plan. 

As can be seen when you view the timeline (linked here) the School Committee has spent a great deal of time and energy on this topic over the past ten years in order to try and find a way to address the identified needs of our high school building (linked here) while attempting to balance those needs with the overall needs of our other school facilities (a quick list is linked here).  These needs are primarily being impacted both by an increasing student population and insufficient budgetary resources to support the annual capital renewal and replacement needs of our district's facilities which are currently valued at well over $141 million dollars.   I mention this value only to point out that based upon that figure, we should be reinvesting almost $ 3 million annually in these areas when budgets the past 10+ years have struggled to support $800,000.00 for these purposes.  All of this is of course context for the larger discussion about what to do to address the needs of our high school.

There was some "good news" that came from last night's meeting and some "bad news", all of which I am optimistic about in regards to being able to eventually find a way to solve our growing facilities problems while balancing those needs with the implications of cost we all know too well.

The "good news" was that:

*  The Town Council and School Committee made it clear that jointly there is no question regarding the need for a capital project to address the growing needs of our aging and overcrowded high school facility.

*  The Town Council and School Committee made it clear that jointly there is no question that we will need to make significant investments in our other four facilities to address aging systems and increasing student populations over time.

*  The School Committee's Facilities Committee and the Town Council's Facilities Committee have agreed to meet jointly to accomplish two specific things:  (1) To hire a third-party consultant to conduct a comprehensive facilities study that will result in the creation of a comprehensive school and town-wide facilities plan for the next 10-20+ years.  Both the Town Council and the School Committee agreed to conduct this study jointly and to do their best to adhere to the recommendations that will be contained within the final report as a guide for planning and decision making moving forward.  It will take about 1 year to complete this study. (2) To develop a list of "smaller" facilities needs across the other four school buildings that will be brought forward to voters in November 2020 to address the growing systems needs of our other facilities while we work out plans to address our high school building.

*  There was a renewed commitment by both boards to work TOGETHER to address the overall facilities needs of our continually growing community.

The "bad news" was that:

*  A clear message was sent by the Town Council that they believe strongly a $72 million dollar project could not be brought forward at this time or any time without further thought on all of our parts as to how to creatively finance such a project and how the funding of such a project would fit into the larger scheme of community facilities needs over time.  The School Committee agreed to set aside a formal request to push this project on to voters in favor of trying to find a way to work together as a whole community to address our overall facilities' needs and better plan together how to finance them in a sustainable way. 

*  The facilities needs associated with the GHS building proposal do not simply go away because we agree to take a step back to jointly problem solve.  As we continue to address these issues together, the price of doing anything increases.  Long story short - the costs associated with our continued growth will continue to grow as well.

Overall:

I walked away from last night's meeting with a sense of OPTIMISM.  I know that may sound crazy to folks who think that somehow the GHS project is now "dead".  IT IS NOT. 

What occurred last night was an agreement between Gorham's leaders that to bring forward that specific project proposal without a more comprehensive town-wide approach that is more broadly planned between the town and the schools was not in the best interest of the community as a whole. 

Our community does not exist in a vacuum, nor do our schools.  Our schools are as strong as they are not just because of our parent and staff support and our incredible students, but also BECAUSE OF OUR COMMUNITY'S SUPPORT.  To risk pushing forward without a stronger sense of how this project fits into the Town's overall comprehensive facilities plan (which we have yet to build) would be in no one's best interests.  Therefore, the School Committee and Town Council agreed to create this much needed comprehensive facilities plan, and to think more closely about how to pay for a project of this size on top of addressing all the other facilities needs that exist in Gorham.  The best part of all is that they agreed to do this TOGETHER rather than to allow this type of conversation to split our community apart. 

To be honest, I walked away from that meeting PROUD TO BE A GORHAM RAM more now than ever.  No one "shirked" their responsibilities by saying this project is not needed.  Instead, I felt as though everyone in that room stepped up, agreed to roll their sleeves up and work to solve these problems as only Gorham can - by bringing the community together!

Bottom Line:

Yes the possibility of a GHS building project has effectively been put off for at least a year while we conduct our new study and complete a comprehensive town-wide facilities plan, but we have a little time to play with - not a lot - but a little, and keeping this awesome community together is well worth that time.  No one would question that.  I truly believe that together we will find the right path forward that addresses all of our community's facilities needs.  We will find the "right" solution, but that right solution rightly takes time.  For now, we have that time and I am happy to use it.

Again, I urge folks that may have questions to please reach out to me at heather.perry@gorhamschools.org for answers.  I am ALWAYS willing to chat! 

Thank you and GO RAMS!