December 20 Post

We have reached the Holiday break!  Please allow me to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season as we end 2024 and begin 2025!  There is much to share...so on with the pictures and the updates!

Now on to the Updates!

UPDATE ON SUPERINTENDENT'S 2024-2025 GOALS

As a new year is set to start and with it the tradition of new year's resolutions - I thought it might be timely to update everyone on my annual goals and how things are going on the five goals created for the 2024-2025 School Year.  Keep in mind that this is not quite the halfway point of the school year (the halfway point will be Jan. 27) so it is perfectly ok if not everything has been met yet!  

Below is an overview of each goal.  If you want more details on each action step, you can CLICK HERE to view the analysis provided to the Gorham School Committee at their last meeting held on December 11,2024.

For this goal, I have either completed or started approximately 40% of the goal.  The Metrics for Success document has been reviewed by the Teaching and Learning Committee, and we have worked to conduct an alignment analysis with our Mission/Vision and Strategic Plan.  We have considered the various ways that success can be measured in a school system, and our next steps will be to research how other exemplary districts measure success.  After that, we will begin creating recommendations for changes that we believe need to be made to the document that will allow us to measure our success as a district for another 4-5 years.  

This goal has taken a slightly different turn than initially anticipated, but it still going well.  100% of the action steps outlined have either been started or completed in a different way than expected.  When I first envisioned the work that would need to be done to accomplish this goal, I hadn't considered the possibility of perhaps working with other Greater Sebago Education Alliance (GSEA) education service center members, but that has turned out to be the direction we are headed in for exploration of how to provide these services in our area together.  The GSEA has created a working group tasked with defining, outlining, and budgeting for what it COULD look like to share services across multiple SAUs to meet the requirements of this law.  So far, we have worked to gather baseline data, set up a site visit to SAUs who are currently providing these services, and set up a meeting with MDOE.  

We will continue to plan together to nail down regional services and then plan what needs to be done by each individual SAU to make this happen.  One thing that has changed due to this more regional approach is the anticipated timelines.  When this goal was envisioned, we thought we might want to jump into the 2nd cohort to begin services in Fall 2025.  This has been delayed, and the likelihood is high that we will not formally start picking up these services until Fall of 2027.

The good news is that, by doing this work more regionally, we will likely be able to provide better services at a lower cost. The bad news is that this will delay implementation until the final year allowed by state statute.

This goal has been going well, too.  Approximately 88% of the planned action steps for this goal have either been completed or started.  We've been making great strides in the work of the Fiscal Sustainability Committee. We have also been communicating a lot more with members of the Gorham community who are not directly associated with the schools. Although more can always be done in this area, we are seeing great success for our students.  For example, one creative way that some GHS teachers have created to engage our older citizens with learning with our students has been to develop ways in which aging adults can interact with our students meaningfully.  Example 1:  GHS English classes studying what it means to live balanced and healthy lifestyles are interviewing aging adults to hear from them.  Example 2:  GHS math classes reaching out to aging adults to ask for advice on financial planning. What great ways to meaningfully engage our high school students in learning essential life lessons from our older generations!  The students have LOVED it, and we've heard equally positive feedback from our community's adults who have participated!

There is always more that can be done in this area, but I am happy with our district's progress in communicating better with the broader community.

For this goal, 100% of the planned action steps have either been completed or started. This year's most significant focus has been increasing student voice. This work began with the completion of the "What I Wish My Peers Knew" activity district-wide during the opening of the school year and has culminated thus far in the participation of over 1,200 students in grades 5-12 in a student voice survey—the results of which will be shared in my next blog in January.

Another focus for the year under this goal has been refreshing our Code of Conduct. This work has gone very well across all five schools, ensuring students know and understand our Code of Conduct, its meaning, and how their actions align with its objectives.

Once again, 100% of this goal's action steps have been completed or started. However, this goal has also taken a slightly different path than initially anticipated. In the early part of the work, it became increasingly clear that we have a strong foundation for strengthening our induction processes. So, rather than spending a significant amount of time working with a stakeholder group, a smaller group was able to get together and map out the items needed to strengthen our retention practices.

You will see much of this work in our FY 26 budget development processes. It will involve some significant shifts at the central office level that we would like to make to emphasize the strength of our human resources. Stay tuned!

HOW ARE PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN MAINE FUNDED BY STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS?

Over the years, many people have asked me to explain how schools are funded. It is always kind of fun to take such a complex question and try to respond in as clear and succinct a way as possible. As we prepare to enter budget development season fully, I thought now might be as good a time as any to assist the public in better understanding how schools are funded.  

First, it is essential to note that, unlike our personal, business, or municipal budgets, school budgets are limited to just three revenue items, which provide all the funds needed to fund our public schools.  Those are:

It is important to also note that we also receive direct funding from the federal government through IDEA or ESEA funds. Still, those funds have specific "strings" attached and must be spent in particular ways related to federal laws. Because of this, the expenditures required for those funds basically "wash out" the revenues received, so I am not including them in this analysis. However, feel free to reach out directly with questions if you have them!

We must build a budget each year whereby our revenue streams match our expenditures.  In other words, we can't "go in the hole" each year and must ensure that revenues offset whatever happens to our expenses.  With that said, here's a snapshot of the past ten years in dollar figures for each of the three revenue streams listed above:

The Essential Programs and Services (EPS) funding formula governs the state subsidy we receive each year. It is a six-page formula, so it is complex. You can view our most recent 279 print-off by CLICKING HERE.  However, the best way I've been able to help folks understand it is to think of it as a scale with two sides, kinda like the image below:  

The Allocation side of the formula uses per pupil amounts that add up to a total allocation the state determines is what is "essential" to operate your schools.  Mind you, this isn't the actual cost of education, but what the state determines is the min. amount required to meet basic requirements from the state.  

The allocation side is then distributed based on the establishment of a min. mil expectation by the state.  Each community has to provide a min. mil (portion of their state value) to fund public education.  Last year's min. mil was 6.2.  This min mil is multiplied by your total community's state property value averaged over the past 3 years.  This is similar to the local valuation, but not the same.  When the total allocation is multiplied by the min. mil value for each community it is the amount each community must contribute locally to fund public education.  Whatever the difference is between that number and the total allocation is what the state pays directly to each community in the form of subsidy.

For example, last year, our total allocation was $39,090,277.29. When we multiplied our state value by the minimum mil expectation, that number came up to $15,259,541.34. This is what the community of Gorham is required to pay to minimally support its public schools and receive state subsidy. The difference between those two numbers is $23,830,735.95, which is what the state pays Gorham in the form of an education subsidy to support public schools.  

Yes, each community's subsidy is very different across the state based on these two key factors: Allocation, which is primarily driven by student populations, and Distribution, which is primarily driven by state property values.

Because Gorham is the lowest-valued community in Cumberland County, we receive significant state subsidies. In fact, because of our comparatively lower property values, we are the highest subsidy recipients in the county.   

All of this is well and good, however, the EPS subsidy formula needs to have calculations that allow it to keep up with inflation, which we have seen significant amounts of recently.  It does not.  As a result, even though our state subsidy has gone up each year, the percentage of that compared to our total expenditure budget has decreased.  See the graphs below for a ten-year history:

Actual Allocation Graph 2015 - 2024

State Subsidy as Percent of Total Revenue 2015-2024

Now, because we have very minimal revenue streams to work with as a school, there are only TWO things we can do on the revenue side to try and address this issue of EPS funding not keeping up with inflationary costs.  Those are:

1. Increase local taxes

2. Increase miscellaneous revenue streams

Unfortunately, our miscellaneous funding streams, even when "maxed out," have only accounted for under 2% of our total budget. The "heavy hitters" are subsidies and local taxes. So, when one goes up or down, the other has to account for the difference to balance out on the revenue side of things.

Recently, we have made a concerted effort to increase our miscellaneous revenues to try and grow this piece of the overall revenue pie and help take some of the pressure off the local taxpayer.  You can see this pattern in the chart shared above, whereby in FY 20, we had as little as $184,000.00 and change in the miscellaneous category, but in FY 25, we were able to grow that amount to $828,000.00 and change.  Now, some of that is the strategic use of fund balance. Still, some of it is also doing things like adding in revenues for CDS billing, MaineCare Billing, and being an active member in the Greater Sebego Education Alliance - all of which have increased revenues for the Gorham Schools.  We will continue to push to grow this part of our revenue stream, but we have only so many "tools" in our allowed "toolbox" to do so.

Please know that we realize that the other conversation we always need to have is about the expenditure side of the balance sheets. We have these yearly as we develop our zero-based school budget. This piece focuses on informing the public about our revenue constraints as a school system and helping people better understand how all this works! Hopefully, this has provided some helpful information, or perhaps it has made you curious and want to ask more questions to better understand.  

I encourage anyone with these types of questions to contact me at heather.perry@gorhamschools.org.  You can also review THIS SLIDE DECK and/or the recording of the August 26 Fiscal Sustainability Committee meeting to listen to me present this information (and more) to the group.  Finally, I encourage folks to follow along with the conversations and meetings held by the School Committee as part of its annual budget process.  You can CLICK HERE to do that.  Thank you!

WHAT ARE EARLY RELEASE DAYS USED FOR ANYWAY???

Early Release days are an extremely valuable tool for public schools. They provide high-quality professional development opportunities to teachers and support staff, which later translate into improved classroom and school practices to benefit our children.

Any given school year is comprised of 175 student days.  Our professional teaching staff have contracts to work 183 days.   Of those 8 additional days, two are "flex days" or "give back" days that offset teachers spending time during the week of fall and spring Parent/Teacher conferences.  Two full days are for Parent/Teacher conferences, and the other four days are for in-service learning or professional development (PD) days.  Of those four days, we use two days to jump-start the school year and ensure we are prepped and ready to go when students arrive each year.  Of the other two days, one is in October, and  is a shared PD day with other regional school systems. The other day is in November for the elections.  

The bottom line is that of the 8 additional teacher days we have to provide teachers with high-quality PD on best instructional practices, refining assessment practices, etc., we only have 2 days per year. Now add in the fact that teachers are required to conduct over 7 hours of mandated training each year on things like sexual harassment, anti-bullying training, suicide prevention training, mandated reporter training, blood-borne pathogen training, etc. (you get the point).  That takes up one full day in itself.  There needs to be more time for PD, which is where early release days come in.

Early release days provide our teachers and other staff with the high-quality PD they need to be successful in their schools and classrooms with children.  Below is just a sample of the different types of learning that has taken place by our teachers so far this year:

PK-5 Grade levels:

*. Time with literacy consultant

*. Safety Care training

*. Lynx Training (safety communications)

*. New staff DEI&B training

*.  LETRS Training

*. Pre K For ME Curriculum Training

*. Training for roll out of new Library Software

*. Social skills resources

6-8 Grade levels:

* Safety Care training

*. Lynx Training (safety communication)

*. Data Review

*. Training for roll out of new Library Software

*. New staff DEI&B training

*. Advisory Training

*. Team & PLC level PD

9-12 Grade levels:

*. Safety Care Training

*. Lynx Training (safety communications)

*. New Staff DEI&B training

*. NEASC accreditation work

*. Vision of a Graduate work

*. Training on new library software

*. Department level PD

*. Training on GHS Creates (i pads)

These days also offer important opportunities for Special Education, Multilingual, G&T, and other specialists to get together across the district, where they would otherwise not have the opportunity to share practices and calibrate their work across the schools.  

So next time you are wondering what teachers and others are doing during an early release day - know that we are learning and sharpening our practices to benefit the children we serve! 

ASPIRE STILL GOING STRONG IN GORHAM!

Aspire Gorham's work is still going strong here in Gorham!  

Let me take a moment to remind folks about Aspire Gorham.  Aspire is a community-wide initiative encouraging all students to consider their future stories.  At the PK-5 level we focus on EXPOSING students to as many different careers as possible so that they can "see" the various possibilities out there for their future success. At the middle school level, we focus on the EXPLORATION of multiple careers.  This is where we encourage students to get their hands dirty, to try things out, and to do so without fear of failure.  Then, at the grades 9-12 levels, we focus on EXPERIENCING various careers.  We want students out doing job shadows, ELOs, CTE programs, apprentice programs, internships, and the like.  

At the high school level, we have THREE primary ways students can get involved in career exploration in addition to things like Extended Learning Opportunities (ELOs) or CTE programming.  The three major programs at GHS that focus on future story work are:

1.  Career X 

2.  Career Treks

3.  Service Treks

Here's a little bit more about each and how they work:

Career X:

Career Treks:

Service Treks:

What incredible ways to help students connect what they are learning in our schools to their aspirations and future career choices in real and meaningful ways!  

If you want to learn more about Aspire Gorham, Career X, Career Treks, or Service Treks or are interested in how you and your area business could get involved, please contact Eliza Kenigsberg at eliza.kenigsberg@gorhamschools.org!

NEW YEAR'S GORHAM ACTIVITIES ANNOUNCED! 

Below is a note from Patricia and New Year's Gorham! Check out all the great family activities and help our community welcome the new year in with style!

From New Year's Gorham:

The New Year Gorham Committee has changed things up this year to include events for ALL grades and ages. We have added some new events: a silent glow room dance party, the Children’s Museum is participating this year with a play and life size whale display, some comedy (Running With Scissors Improv Group) and the final event… an indoor laser show! We still have a lot of community involved acts as well. Tickets can be purchased through the Recreation Department website or in person the day of the event. We look forward to a spectacular event!

CLICK HERE for the flyer in pdf form or see image below:

That is it for this blog post. The next one will be shared on January 10, 2025.  Sharpen up those New Year's resolutions, everyone.  Happy Holidays!  We'll see you in the new year!☺

December 6 Blog Post

TWO WEEKS until the Holiday break!  Holy cow!  We are also about 1 month away from the halfway point of the school year!  Crazy talk, I know! What is that old saying that goes something like "Time flies when you are having fun!"  We must all be having A LOT of fun in the Gorham Schools! ☺. Some pictures from the past few weeks in our schools are below, and then on to the information! 

THE IMPORTANCE OF REPORTING VS. REPOSTING

The Gorham Schools are not immune to online threats. Whether these threats are "from away," such as the swatting incidents that occurred around our region on election day, or closer to home, made perhaps by upset students who feel as though they have no other way to vent their frustrations but to do so online or for a myriad of different reasons, we do see digital threats involving our schools.

Community members, parents, and even students and staff often ask me what to do if they see a threat posted online that could be connected to our schools.

I have one response, and its one I thought perhaps would be beneficial to share with students, staff, and families more broadly and that is:

REPORT IT - AND DO NOT REPOST IT!

The best way to illustrate what I mean here is to tell a story.  This story is based on an actual occurrence, but I have changed it to maintain confidentiality.  Here goes:

Allison is the mom of a GHS student named Joe.  Joe is enjoying his junior year at GHS after a somewhat "rocky" sophomore year.  He has a great circle of friends and is maintaining a B in all his classes this year, even English, which is his least favorite (fictional character - clearly! We all love English.).  

Joe works part-time at a local coffee shop to earn money to pay for a car he wants to buy.  Like most young adults his age, he's a good kid with a phone, on which he probably spends a little too much time.  His favorite thing to do is surf social media sites like TicTok or Snapchat or Instagram to stay connected to his friends and stay in tune with what is happening in the greater world around him.

One evening, Joe is surfing his Snapchat account and sees a post that makes him a little nervous.  The post is from another younger student at GHS who he recognizes but doesn't know well.  We'll call him John.  The post shows John sitting on the edge of his bed in his bedroom, holding a very real-looking gun for the camera.  In the post is a message:  "Coming for you at GHS and all your friends, Frank!"  Joe doesn't know who Frank is, but he knows John is a student at GHS.  He is worried.  He screenshots the post and sends it to his friends, asking if they know this John kid and what he should do?  A few of his friends say they know the kid, and he's probably just blowing smoke and not to worry.  Joe feels a little better but is still worried.  He wonders what happened with John that made him write such a bold post.  He wonders if the gun is real or fake?  The more and more he thinks about it, the more scared he gets.  Finally, just before he goes to bed, he tells his mom.

Allison sees the image and immediately emails the HS principal. She shares the image and as much of John's backstory as possible. There was no immediate response, so she called the Gorham PD and spoke with an officer. She emails the officer the picture and shares what little information she has with him. The officer promises to look into this more and call her back when he has learned more.

That is as much of the story as you need, other than knowing that the officer quickly contacted the SRO, who texted the Principal.  Together, they made sure that John was okay, determined the level of risk for the threat, and acted accordingly to ensure the safety of all students and John himself that very night.  

In this story, Joe eventually does the right thing by sharing the threat with his mom. Allison also did the right thing by bringing the alleged threat to the immediate attention of the Gorham PD and the school, who could work together to eliminate any threat.  

That's the "happy ending," I suppose.  However, you should also know that when Joe sent that image to his friends to gather more information, two friends re-posted it onto their Instagram accounts with comments like: "What's this?" and "Who is this kid."  Within 40 minutes, the reposts had been shared 50+ times, and multiple families were calling the PD and reaching out to the principal, scared and unsure whether they would send their children to school the next day.  Other students caught wind and were frightened as well.  

The story's moral is that this could have been avoided if Joe had not re-posted the image and had simply reported the image to his mom or another trusted adult. Hence...

REPORT IT - AND DO NOT REPOST IT!

As a school system, we want to know when online threats are made so that we can swiftly respond, follow up with everyone, and ensure the safety of all our students. We want to know.  You are not bothering us if you report something.  You are not an "overbearing" parent" if you report something.  You are not a "snitch" if you report something (the person already put it out there for all to see)!  You are not a "creeper" (as my daughter used to say about me when I checked in on her social media posts as a teenager.  

If you see something that concerns you online and report it to a trusted adult so that those who can do something are informed to take action, you are a good digital citizen.  Your actions play a vital role in maintaining our schools' safety and security.  Know that we will always welcome those communications!  Thank you in advance for being good digital citizens!

HELPFUL TOOLS FOR FAMILIES TRYING TO NAVIGATE OUR COMPLEX DIGITAL WORLD!

Whenever I am out and about in the community and a parent/guardian takes the time to say "Thank you" to me for the services I provide to the children of this community - I very quickly deflect and point it right back at parents!  THANK YOU for the tireless work YOU do daily as parents/guardians for the children of this community!  Being a parent in today's world is no easy task! It seems each year gets more and more complex!   

As families, you constantly seek high-quality, trusted resources to help you navigate parenting in this complex world. I thought I might provide a few resources to review and use if you find them beneficial.

The first and most well-known resource I want to share with you is Common Sense Media. What an excellent resource for parents!  Click on the link provided, and then right there on that front page, it allows you to select "Parents."  From there, the resources are almost overwhelming! You can click on their movie reviews and search for movies recommended by age. You can similarly see their reviews for books, podcasts, and even video games and apps.  

On this site, you can also go to "Parent Tips and FAQs" and link to resources curated by Common Sense Media that help families learn more about essential topics like screen time, social media use, cell phone use, and more! This site has a wealth of information to help any parent or guardian navigate these complex topics with children of any age!  

Boston Children's Hospital curates another great resource in digital wellness: The Digital Wellness Lab. One great tool they have developed is the "Digital Family Wellness Guide."  The guide is searchable by age level and includes a welcome and overview andexcellen a vital glossary of terms.  When you click on an age level, lots of great resources come up, including specific "best practices" that include all kinds of great links and additional resources for families.  Definitely worth the look!

Then, to demonstrate that digital citizenship extends worldwide and doesn't stop with lines on a map, another great resource comes from our neighbors to the North in Canada. They have developed a "Digital Citizenship Guide For Parents" that I found well-organized and easy to read. It is a more traditional PDF guidebook, but it contains excellent information focused on "What should I do if..." and "How do I..." that is easy to read and understand.

These are just a few resources for families regarding Digital Citizenship. Please know that we, as schools, work with your child almost daily, talking with them about digital citizenship, its meaning, and what it looks like to be a good digital citizen.  Often, we extend our Code of Conduct into the digital world to help students see that our Code isn't just for when you are in school sitting in a classroom.  Our Code of Conduct extends to all parts of our lives, including digital citizenship.  

Please help us help your children be the best digital citizens they can be by checking out some of the resources above and talking with your child about what it means to be a good digital citizen.  Thank you!  

 AN UPDATE OF THE WORK OF THE GORHAM FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE

It has been a while since I refreshed people's memories of the critical work of the Gorham Fiscal Sustainability Committee. I wanted to take this opportunity to do just that! First, let's remember what this group is and what task it is being asked to accomplish!

This committee was jointly established by the Gorham Town Council and the Gorham School Committee.  It aims to understand the existing financial landscape for the Town and the Gorham School Department, evaluate the future economic landscape, and use this knowledge to make recommendations for maintaining sustainable taxes while managing our community's present and future growth over the next 5-10 years.

Specifically, the committee is tasked to "deliver" the following:

1.  The Development of a series of recommendations to the Town Council and the School Committee for how to reduce costs (or mitigate continued cost increases).

2.  The Development of a series of recommendations to the Town Council and School Committee for how to increase revenues that will offset direct taxpayer expenses at both the municipal and school levels.

3.  The Development of a series of recommendations to the Town Council and School Committee for how to improve communications between various stakeholder groups within the community of Gorham to aid in understanding current and future financial limitations moving forward. 

The following are members of this joint committee:

The Committee has been meeting since April 2024 to complete this work and has made significant progress.  

After learning about the historical spending and revenue trends of the schools and the municipality, the group has begun to focus on developing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the community. These KPIs would monitor the relative "health" of our expenditures and revenue streams to accomplish the first two items on the task list.  We have also begun discussing developing a comprehensive communications plan and what that might look like to address the third assigned task. 

The work is really beginning to take shape, and I encourage you to follow it (if you haven't already). To do so, go to the Town's website and CLICK HERE for the overview page, which provides agendas, minutes, and meeting schedules. 

Once you have the dates for the meetings already held, you can also CLICK HERE to view the video recordings of the sessions.  

The group's next meeting is scheduled for January 16, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. Three more sessions are planned for February 10, March 10, and April 14, 2025. All meetings begin at 6:00 p.m. and are held in the downstairs conference room at the Gorham Municipal Center. They are open to the public and recorded!

SO HOW ARE THE GORHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS ORGANIZED AND GOVERNED?

Have you ever wondered how school committees in Maine make decisions? If so, you’re not alone! Many people are curious about this process but may not take the time to ask. Here’s a concise guide to how it works, with a focus on Gorham Schools as an example.

Organizational Structure

The Gorham School Committee is at the top of the school district’s organizational chart. This seven-member body is made up of elected citizens who meet specific eligibility requirements: they must be taxpaying residents of Gorham and at least 18 years old.

Once elected, these members collectively lead the school district when they convene in publicly posted meetings with a quorum present.

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Gorham School Committee are outlined in the Town Charter (Section 405) and state law (Title 20-A, Section 1001). Their primary duties include:

• Developing policies

• Managing school property

• Selecting the Superintendent of Schools

• Approving courses of study

• Developing and overseeing the school district’s annual budget

The Committee’s sole direct employee is the Superintendent, who is charged with the day-to-day operation of the schools. The Superintendent’s role is to ensure the schools are run effectively and in accordance with the policies established by the Committee.

Decision-Making Process

The School Committee makes decisions in publicly posted meetings, ensuring transparency and adherence to open meeting laws. In Gorham, regular meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month, with special meetings called as needed for specific agenda items. Additionally, the Committee holds monthly workshop meetings to discuss topics, though no formal actions are taken during these sessions.

During regular meetings, the Committee votes on action items, which guide the Superintendent in implementing the Committee’s policies and priorities. This collaborative structure ensures that the schools are properly managed while providing opportunities for public engagement and oversight.

Final Thoughts

Of course the above makes the decision making process sound relatively "easy" there is A LOT of work that goes on behind the scenes to ensure that our schools are effectively operated.  

Understanding how School Committees operate helps demystify the decision-making process in public education. Through structured responsibilities, transparent meetings, and collaboration with the Superintendent, School Committees ensure that Maine’s schools are well-governed and aligned with community values. If you’re interested in learning more, check out your local school committee’s organizational chart and meeting schedule to see them in action! 

INITIAL FY 26 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT TARGET RECENTLY SET BY THE GORHAM SCHOOL COMMITTEE

Over the past few months, the Gorham School Committee has been working with the Superintendent to establish an initial target for an overall proposed FY 26 budget increase as we construct the proposed Gorham Schools FY 26 budget.  

The Gorham School Committee began its discussion at its workshop meeting at the end of October. During this meeting, they reviewed key historical spending and benchmark data to inform their decision.  

The School Committee then established a Q&A document where they could ask initial questions to help inform their decision-making. Then, during our Dessert & Discuss meeting on November 14, the School Committee spent an entire evening listening to district leadership team members share information about what they see as challenges we are experiencing across our schools and programs. Finally, the School Committee met on November 26, using all this information combined to help inform the establishment of this initial target.

After much consideration and discussion, the School Committee established an initial target budget maximum increase of 5.25% for FY 26, including CIPS (Capital Improvement Requests).

With this direction, the Superintendent is now responsible for developing an initial proposed FY 26 budget that meets this target. That work is already underway, as individual school and program-level budget requests are due to the Superintendent on Dec. 10.  The Superintendent will then meet with each principal and program director individually to review the budget requests line by line to ensure they are based on specific needs and aligned with our district's mission/vision, strategic plan, and FY 26 Budget Priorities.  

The Superintendent's proposed FY 26 budget will be presented to the Gorham School Committee in early February. Between February and early April, the Committee will spend considerable time reviewing and adjusting the budget. In early April, they will be asked to vote to approve it. The proposed budget will then go to the Town Council for approval in May, with a public referendum scheduled for June.

The Town Council and School Committee will hold a joint budget meeting on December 17, starting at 6:30 p.m., to discuss the various needs of the Town and School that will impact the coming budget preparation work for the Gorham community. This meeting is open to the public and will be recorded and shared.

The next big update on the proposed FY 26 budget will likely be in early February when the Superintendent's proposed budget is presented to the School Committee. Please stay tuned; I will keep you updated as this process progresses.  

ARE YOU A RETIREE WHO WOULD LIKE TO SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF FINANCIAL WELLNESS WITH GHS STUDENTS?

GHS students working with veteran math teacher Neile Nelson and our Aspire Gorham Coordinator Eliza Kenigsberg are looking for retirees in the Gorham committee who are willing to come in and spend some time sharing your wisdom on financial wellness with them!  

If you are interested or know someone who is, please check out the flyer below to learn more.  Your time would truly benefit our students!

MENTAL HEALTH SERIES REMINDER

Just a reminder that the Gorham Schools have partnered with Parentguidance.org to offer several mental health series webinars FREE to Gorham families to participate in.  The next one coming right up is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 9 at 7:00 or 9:00 p.m.  Please see the flyer below and use the QR code to register today!

FREE PARENT WEBINAR ON CANNABIS USE AMONG ADOLESCENTS OFFERED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH YARMOUTH SCHOOLS! 

The flyer below was sent to all schools in our region inviting all parent/guardians to attend this informational webinar on what parents should know about adolescent cannabis use.  Check out the flyer below and use the bit.ly listed to register today!

That's it for this blog post.  My next one will be on the last day of school before the Holiday break coming up in just two more weeks!

November 15 Blog Post

First, thank you to everyone who got out to vote earlier this month.  I'm unsure if you saw the most recent data, but approx. 70% of Gorham's voters participated in the elections on Nov. 5.  WOW!  Great job!  Would LOVE to see that kind of turnout for this coming June's elections as well!☺ 

I'll share an overview of the results of the Nov. 5 local elections below, but I wanted to share some pictures from the past two weeks in our schools!  It's been a great two weeks of learning across all schools; here is just a glimpse - but even that took me two sets again!

Now, on to the information!

UPDATE ON LOCAL RESULTS OF NOV. 5 ELECTIONS

For those of you who may not have been able to follow the local election results, I wanted to provide an overview and then discuss the next steps for the school to proceed with the results of our two bond requests.

First, CONGRATULATIONS to David Willis and Janet Keuch for their election to the Gorham Town Council.

Secondly, CONGRATULATIONS to Nicole Yeo-Fischer and Eric Thistle for their election to the Gorham School Committee.

In regards to the two bond questions that were on the ballot, question #1 passed.  Question #1 was the bond request for approximately $12,691,377.00 dollars (including interest) to do the following:

-  Expand the GHS cafeteria

-  Build "Phase I" (of an eventual 3 phase expansion plan if needed) of a Modular Expansion to GHS.

-  Replace HVAC system at Narragansett Elementary School

The second bond request DID NOT pass.  This was a request for approximately $3,380,781.00 dollars (including interest) to move the existing tennis courts from the GHS site to the GMS site and add two additional courts with lighting.  

So what is next?

For the GHS bond project, we will work closely with the Town of Gorham to complete the bonding process and secure the funds to move forward with the project. Later this spring, we will go out to bid for the project work, which will be conducted throughout the summer of 2025 and the 2025-2026 school year. The anticipated completion date would allow us to open school in the fall of 2026 with the HS portion of the projects completed.  

The Narragansett HVAC project will also be bid out later this winter/spring. Work will be conducted during the summer of 2025. Our hope is that the work will be completed in time for the school's opening in the Fall of 2025.

With regards to the tennis courts.  Next week, we have scheduled a meeting with Maine Tennis (a trusted, contracted service provider that works with organizations to construct and maintain tennis courts across New England).  We will do a thorough site walk-through to assess the existing courts' conditions, determine the next best step, and determine how much any options may cost.  We will bring options back to the Gorham School Committee Finance/Facilities Committee for consideration and integration within a revised 10-year capital plan for the schools and then work with the Town of Gorham's facilities committee to fully update the ten-year plan to include tennis courts.  

We understand that the current courts need to be playable for our students. We hope to determine a short-term "fix" that will allow students, Gorham Recreation, and our community to return to using these courts as soon as possible while we figure out the mid-to-long-term plan for tennis courts with the town moving forward.

The complicating factor with this project (tennis courts) is that if we do not receive funding from the state to construct a new high school, we will return to the voters within 3-5 years to request another bond to build a second modular expansion phase at GHS. This second phase would need to occur on the site where the existing tennis courts are now located. No other space makes sense for continuing needed modular classroom expansions at the high school.  

As you can see, it will be imperative in our continued capital planning to work closely with the Town of Gorham to maximize the resources available to address our steadily growing capital needs. We will continue to keep everyone informed as we determine the short-term "fix" for the tennis courts and how our next steps align with our longer-term capital needs planning.  We hope to have a suggested next step prepared for the tennis courts by mid-December 2024 and an updated 10-year capital plan to share with the Town's facilities committee by late January 2025.

To communicate more transparently with the public about our facilities' capital needs, we will also launch a new page on our website with all the information the public needs to better understand our needs assessments, projections, and associated plans.  This new page should be ready to share publicly shortly after the Holiday break in December/January.  In the meantime, if you have any questions or would like copies of any of our facilities' assessments or plans, please contact me at any time.  My email is heather.perry@gorhamschools.org.  

SO, HOW ARE SCHOOL POLICIES CREATED ANYWAY? A POLICY PRIMER FOR MAINE PUBLIC SCHOOLS...

Local School Board/Committee policies are how our schools are governed.  Similar to how our state and federal government's legislatures pass laws to inform the executive branch (Governor and President) how to operate our state and country, school policies are what our local School Committee passes that tell me how to manage our schools.  Just like our old government lessons on the branches of government, right?  The legislative branch creates the laws, and the executive branch carries them out.  The same thing occurs in our public schools, only on a much smaller scale.  Policies are our school's "laws" created and approved by our local "legislative branch" - our School Committee.  Here's how it typically works:

The Gorham School Committee develops policies through a structured process that usually follows these SIX key steps:

1. Identification of Need

• Issues arise from community feedback, legal requirements, or operational challenges
• School Committee members or administrators identify areas needing policy guidance
• Regular policy reviews may often reveal gaps or outdated rules that need to be updated

2. Research & Draft Policy Development

• Staff research similar policies from other districts or seek to find model/template policies from the Maine Department of Education or from the Maine School Management Association.  
• The Superintendent's office leads draft preparation for policies using the resources that have been researched to create the language needed that addresses the identified need.
• Initial drafts incorporate state/federal requirements as appropriate
• Legal counsel reviews relevant laws and regulations as needed
• Draft language is brought to the School Committee policy committee for a thorough review and adjusted as needed to prepare for first reading.

3. First Reading

• The full School Committee reviews draft policy at a public meeting
• Members discuss and suggest revisions
• The public may comment during designated public comment periods on each agenda
• No final vote is taken at this stage

4. Revision

• Staff/Policy Committee incorporates feedback into revisions
• Additional stakeholder input may be gathered as needed
• Further drafts prepared as needed
• Draft is finalized and made ready for 2nd Reading with the entire School Committee

5. Second Reading & Vote

• Policy Committee presents Revised policy at another public meeting
• Final discussion and amendments are considered by the full School Committee
• School Committee votes to adopt, reject, or further revise
• A Majority vote is required for adoption

6. Implementation

• Adopted policies distributed to staff
• Training provided if needed
• Administrative procedures developed if needed
• Community notified of new policies by the Superintendent via the website

So where can the public find a copy of our School Committee Policies?  On our website of course! ☺ 

Just go to www.gorhamschools.org.  Then click on "About Us" and go to "School Committee".  Once there, you should see an option to click on "Policies".  Click there and you'll see our policies organized by policy code.  

In Gorham, we use the MSBA (Maine School Boards Association) coding system for policies. Our policies are organized by category as follows:

A - Foundations and Basic Commitments 

B - School Board Governance and Operations 

C - General School Administration 

D - Fiscal Management 

E - Support Services 

F - Facilities Development 

G - Personnel 

I - Instruction 

J - Students 

K - School-Community Relations 

L - Education Agency Relations

For example:

• JICK would be under "J" (Students) and typically refers to bullying policies
• IHBA would be under "I" (Instruction) and often relates to Individual Education Programs
• GCFB would be under "G" (Personnel) and usually covers recruiting and hiring of staff

Each subsequent letter in the code narrows the specific topic within that main category.

I hope this helps take a little "mystery" away from how policies are created and how you can find and review/read them to better understand them.  As I mentioned earlier, these policies allow the School Committee to ultimately govern our schools.  If the School Committee wants something done differently within the confines of our state and federal laws, they need only revise policy to instigate change.  Remember, this rule-making authority only extends within the confines of state and federal law.  Local School Committee policies cannot conflict with state and federal statutes.

If you want to learn more, just let me know. I'm always happy to help folks better understand school policies!

FALL NWEA DATA REVIEW

I wanted to take a moment to share district-level Fall NWEA testing data with everyone. 

Please know that NWEA data is just ONE of MANY metrics we use to determine our district's success in making our mission and vision a reality for our students.  In Gorham, we use our "Metrics for Success" document to determine the overall effectiveness of our district in making our Mission/Vision for student learning a reality for the children of this great community.  

Also, please know that this is just FALL NWEA testing data and is not reflective of a full year's worth of learning for our students.  This is a snapshot in time.  The full year's look is shared annually each spring/summer in our district's "State of the School's" Report.

With those caveats, here is a summary of data from Fall NWEA testing across the district...

This graph shows the percentage of our grades 1-5 students who are proficient in math across all three schools. Our goal is that 70% or more of our students meet proficiency marks as defined by NWEA. As you can see, Grades 1, 2, and 3 meet our goals. Unfortunately, grades 4 and 5 are not, at least not yet. ☺ 

When looking at this data, a few things come to mind.  First, our current grade 4 and 5 students are the students who were in kindergarten or pre-K during the pandemic.  Second, this is the third full year of implementation for our new math curriculum, Reveal Math.  Moving forward, this graph indicates that we need to continue to emphasize the integrity of implementing our new math curriculum while increasing support for students in the older grades who continue to struggle in math due to pandemic-related gaps.  This targeted support should aim to get these students to grade level proficiency by the end of grade 8 so that they are best prepared for higher-level math at the HS level.

This graph shows the percentage of our grades 1-5 students who are proficient in Reading across all three schools.  We aim for 70% or more of our students to meet proficiency marks defined by NWEA.  As you can see, Grade 1 meets this goal, while the other four grades fall just short of the mark.  

Overall, our upper-grade elementary students faired far better through the pandemic in reading than they did in math.  Although four of the five grades fall just short of our 70% goal, the difference is by just a few percentage points and very close to the mark.  Moving forward, this graph indicates that we must keep doing what we have been doing in our reading instruction and continue to provide the targeted support our struggling students may need via our RTI processes. 

This graph shows the percentage of our grades 6-8 students who are meeting proficiency in math as defined by NWEA.  Once again, our goal is 70% or more.  At GMS, grade six is a little under that mark, while grades 7 & 8 are just above.  Once again, this shows that we need to keep doing what we have been in our math instruction moving forward while being sure to provide the targeted interventions students may need to get over that learning hump.

This graph shows the percentage of our grade 6-8 students who are meeting proficiency in reading as defined by NWEA. Like the math chart above, our 6th-grade students are just below that target, while our 7th—and 8th-grade students are just above. There is room to grow, for sure, but this indicates that a continued steady push with targeted support for struggling students is what is needed moving forward. 

This graph shows data for GHS students in grades 9 and 10 Math. NWEA assessments are only taken at these grades. Students in grade 11 start working towards PSATs and SATs as needed. Testing in these grades indicates that we are meeting our goal of having 70% of students hit proficient marks, as NWEA defines them.  Moving forward, a steady hand seems to be in order while continuing to provide targeted support to students who may need it.

Finally, this graph shows data for GHS students in grades 9 and 10 Reading. Once again, students at these grade levels are meeting our goal of 70% or more hitting the proficient mark. Continuing the existing curriculum and support structures seems appropriate, as does continuing to provide targeted support for students in need.

Overall, what does this data tell us? It tells us that we always have room to improve our instruction across all grades but that significant instructional practice shifts or curriculum shifts are unnecessary. The data indicate that we must deepen our targeted support and maintain the course to ensure our students meet academic proficiencies. 

We will continue to monitor this data and work to ensure we meet our district goals. 

FY 26 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT CYCLE FOR SCHOOLS KICKED OFF LAST NIGHT!

The Gorham School Committee "kicks off" its annual budget development process each year with a meeting we lovingly call our "Dessert & Discuss" meeting. The meeting is aptly named because we share yummy desserts made by our School Nutrition Program employees as we begin the complex process of building a school district budget from scratch!

This annual meeting does not focus on budget numbers and specific costs. Instead, it aims to create the understanding needed to inform later dollar-figure discussions. The school committee spends the evening asking building leaders and program directors to share their "pain points" and their two— to three-year outlooks for future needs across our schools and programs.  

Information shared is more anecdotal than dollar-driven, but don't think this sharing isn't also driven by data. Trends in data are shared, helping School Committee members better understand the specific areas of challenge in our schools and why certain things may be asked for as part of the budget development process moving forward.  

Indeed, only some possible requests discussed and shared make it through the budget process. However, by sharing a comprehensive view of needs now, the School Committee can better understand how to prioritize the myriad of needs as they move through the FY 26 budget development process. It is always an extremely informative night!

The meeting is open to the public. However, we understand not everyone can come out and sit through a 2-hour meeting...so if you are interested in following along, you can view the video recording of the meeting by CLICKING HERE.  You can also view all the links shared with the School Committee containing information on "pain points" and 2-3-year outlooks for each school and program by CLICKING HERE.

As mentioned, this is just the beginning of an 8-month (sometimes +) process to develop and approve a proposed FY 26 School Budget.  The next big piece of work for the School Committee will be to set an overall budget development target for the administration to try and hit in the process.  The School Committee will set that initial target at their Nov. 26 workshop meeting.  We will then follow up with a joint meeting with the Town Council on Dec. 17 for additional feedback.  Then, an initial proposed budget is shared with the School Committee in early February, and then they really dig in during March with several in-depth budget workshop meetings.  

Please follow this work along on our website and reach out with questions if you have them! Stay tuned - much more to come!

KNOW OF ANY OLDER ADULTS WHO WOULD LIKE SOME HELP WITH TECHNOLOGY?

A small group of students at Gorham High School are considering creating a tech help group to help older adults in our community navigate the ever-changing world of technology. As a digital "immigrant" myself, I know where to go if I have a question related to technology—to my 29-year-old daughter and my 7-year-old granddaughter! ☺ 

If you or someone you know might be interested in receiving nonjudgmental assistance from our high school students while allowing our students to learn the valuable lessons associated with volunteerism and giving back to their community, check out the flyer below and call or email today!

WHAT ARE GORHAM MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS THANKFUL FOR?

The answer is A LOT! ☺ I wanted to share a few pictures of what GMS students are saying they are thankful for!  You may need to blow up the images a bit to read them...but they certainly have a lot to say!

As we enter the holiday season, it is always a great time to reflect upon what we are thankful and grateful for.  Yes, we can have our challenges, but there is no question that we all have things for which we should also be grateful.  Each and every year, I am thankful to be able to serve the children of the community of Gorham - to watch them grow, challenge themselves, persevere, and flourish!  Take a moment and think about what you are grateful for this season...and enjoy the upcoming time with family and friends over this crazy holiday season!  

That's it til the next blog.  Due to the Holiday break, the next blog post will be Dec. 6.  THANK YOU!