January 10 Post

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2025 is treating you well thus far. I know we are excited to have our students back in our classrooms after the Holiday break! Here are a few pictures from the past week in our schools, and then on to the information!

FILLING AN OPEN SEAT ON THE GORHAM SCHOOL COMMITTEE

On Wednesday night, Jan. 8, 2025, School Committee member Stewart McCallister publicly announced his resignation from the Gorham School Committee due to changes in his work situation. Stewart has faithfully served the Gorham Schools as a committee member since November 2016. He has served as chair and vice chair and chaired the finance and policy committees. His steady hand and vast experience will undoubtedly be missed.

I have received some questions from people who want to better understand what happens when a seat on the School Committee becomes available midterm.  

When a seat opens, the first thing done is to look at the Town's Charter to determine the next steps. We would go to Article IV, Department of Education, Section 403. Vacancy. In this language, it states:

"If for any reason a vacancy shall exist in the membership of the superintending school committee, it shall be filled by a majority vote of the remaining committee members until the next municipal election."

So what does this mean? It means that the remaining 6 members of the Gorham School Committee will nominate and vote to approve of someone filling the empty seat until the next municipal election. This typically occurs within 30 days of the formal vacancy being announced.  

When is the next municipal election? The answer is June 2025. Therefore, here is the process the School Committee will undertake to fill the seat:

First, the School Committee will announce the vacancy, ensuring that anyone interested in filling it is given the opportunity to contact Sarah Perkins, the School Committee Chair, directly at sarah.perkins@gorhamschools.org to express their interest in potentially joining the School Committee until June 2025.

The School Committee may also contact community members who have served in this capacity in the past to see if any experienced individuals would be willing to fill the seat until June. This would be a preference since we are going into budget development season, and it is tough for newcomers to learn the ropes during this time.

The School Committee would then meet to approve a nomination to fill the seat. This will likely take place either at their upcoming Jan. 22 meeting or at their Feb. 12 meeting.  

The individual appointed will serve between that time and June's election. Whoever is elected in June will serve until the end of the original term. In this case, Stewart's original term ends in November 2025, so whoever is elected to fill the term in June will need to run again in November if they want to continue to serve.

Until all this is resolved, the School Committee will continue to meet with the six active members as needed to conduct its business.

If you or anyone you know may be interested in serving in this temporary capacity through June 2025, please have them reach out directly to Sarah Perkins, School Committee chair at her email: sarah.perkins@gorhamschools.org.  

THANK YOU!

SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER POTENTIAL MOVE TO LATE START DAYS vs. EARLY RELEASE DAYS 

FOR 2025-2026 - NEED YOUR INPUT!

The Gorham School Committee adopts a school calendar for the coming school year each year. Currently, the Committee is developing and approving the 2025-2026 calendar.  

As you can imagine, a lot goes into creating a school calendar. Regional CTE program calendars, snow days, holidays, professional workshop days, and other items must be discussed, and each decision has implications for families, staff, and students.  

We don't have a choice with some of what we put forward in our calendar. For example, our calendar can only have "five dissimilar days" from other school calendars in our region to ensure our Career and Technical Education (CTE) students are not disadvantaged. We must follow the rules regarding state and federal holidays, and we have to follow items that are negotiated into labor association contracts that impact our school calendar. The bottom line is that a lot of work goes into the annual creation of our school calendar.

Over the past ten years or more, one aspect of our school's calendar has been the use of eight early release days spread out over the school year. These days provide our teaching staff with much-needed time for professional learning and required training, which is invaluable for our teachers.

Traditionally, these days have been early release days, where we release our schools at the half-day, and students go home early from school. Over time, a tradition has formed among our students and their families that the school has little control over in that many parents sign notes giving their MS/HS student permission to be released as walkers from school on these days. If you have ever been in the downtown area on an early release day in Gorham, you can pretty quickly see the implications of this as hundreds of students make the trek and walk from school to downtown.  

Over the years, we have tried many things to curb this particular practice by our students and families. For example, several years ago, we worked with Gorham Recreation to organize events for students on early release days, such as food trucks and games in Robie Park. Students walked right on by. The attraction of unsupervised time at Aroma Joe's, Subway, or Burger King seems just too big a draw for our students.

At the end of the day, the school can do little to curb this tradition as parents ultimately give students permission to go downtown, and once they are released from school, they are no longer under our supervision and guardianship.  

This is one reason why the School Committee would like to consider the possibility of moving to late start days. Doing so would curb the "mass exodus" of students from our schools to the downtown area. Of course, this would also have other implications for families, the largest of which is likely child care considerations.

At the end of the day, the School Committee would like to hear from families directly to better inform their discussion and ultimate decision-making on this matter moving forward. To allow for this feedback to take place, we have created a BRIEF five-minute survey for families to complete, linked below.  We would ask families to complete the survey no later than January 17 to inform the discussion planned at the School Committee level on Jan. 22. Please click on the link below to participate in the survey and reach out to heather.perry@gorhamschools.org with any questions, concerns, or comments you may have. THANK YOU!

Early Release vs. Late Start Survey Link

GORHAM PUBLIC PRE K PARTNER ENROLLMENTS NOW OPEN FOR 2025-2026!

Public Pre-K in the Gorham community has grown tremendously over the past two years! With our two public pre-K classrooms housed at Narragansett Elementary School, our current private partnership programs with Gorham Arts Alliance and Seedlings to Sunflowers, and two new partnerships coming later in 2025-2026, we will now be able to serve almost 140 pre-K students in our great community!

We will be working this spring to bring on our two new potential partners, Cradle Inn and Imagination Station. Still, we have been working hard with our two current partners (Gorham Arts Alliance and Seedlings 2 Sunflowers) to develop a single place where Gorham parents can learn more about our partnerships and how to enroll their children in them.  

As part of this critical work, we have created a Gorham Public Pre-K website that will continue to be populated with additional information as we go. Right now, you can go there and find out about our partnership programs and how to apply to enroll your child! This website is now live, and with it too is our public pre-K enrollment for the 2025-2026 school year!

Please CLICK HERE to visit our new website and APPLY TODAY. Then, refer to the flyer below to see our enrollment timeline. Reach out with questions you may have at any time using the information from the flyer below!  

Gorham is so proud to have formed these strong partnerships that continue to grow each year to support our Pre-K students in this great community! We hope this website helps bring communication about these programs to a more central place so that parents and families can better access information to learn more about our programs. We LOVE our "Little Rams" here in Gorham!  

WHEN CAN STUDENTS BEGIN TO WORK & HOW DO STUDENTS GET A WORKER'S PERMIT?

As we approach the second half of the school year, I typically receive more questions from families about how minor students can join the workforce. How does it work? When can they begin working if they want to? What are the restrictions? How does one get a worker's permit if one is needed? I thought this would be a good time to provide a review of this process for families and interested students.

Here are the key points for families to know regarding who can work and in what types of jobs:

Minors Who are 16 or 17: May work in nonhazardous jobs in manufacturing establishments, bakeries, laundries, dry-cleaning establishments and garages. They may also work in hotels; motels; commercial places of amusement, including skating rinks, circuses, arcades, bowling alleys and pool halls; and in all of the industries allowed for younger minors.

Minors Who are 15: May work in nonhazardous jobs in dining rooms, kitchens, lobbies and offices of hotels and motels, but they are prohibited from performing room service, making deliveries to the hotel rooms or entering the hallways to those rooms.

Minors Who are 14: May work in nonhazardous jobs in restaurants (if not on the premises of a hotel/motel), in sporting and overnight camps, stores, filling stations, ice cream stands and laundromats. They also may work at outside occupations on the grounds of a hotel or motel, but not if the minor must stay away from home overnight.

Minors Who are Under 14: There is no minimum age under Maine law to work in nonhazardous jobs in children's camps, hospitals, nursing homes, municipalities, domestic work in or about a private home or in the planting, cultivating or harvesting of field crops in agriculture. (Federal law does not allow minors under 14 to work in businesses under their jurisdiction.)

Minors of any age may work for their parents in non-hazardous jobs in non-mechanical and non-manufacturing settings in retail or service industries (excluding hotels and motels) if they are supervised directly by one or both parents. Work permit requirements, hours of work, and prohibited occupations apply to minors even if they work for their parents.

So now that you know who can work at what age and in what fields, it is also important to note that there are work time restrictions associated with worker's permits that are in place to protect children as well. Here is a review of the high points of those:

For Children Under 16 Years old:

Work Hours

1. Between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. during the school year
2. Between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. during summer vacations only
3. Not during school hours

Maximum Hours

1. 3 hours a day on school days, including Fridays
2. 18 hours in any week during a school week
3. 40 hours in a week with no school
4. 8 hours on days without school (during weekends, holidays, vacations, storm days, etc.)
5. No more than 6 days in a row

For Children 16 and 17 Years old:

Work hours (may work)

1. After 7 a.m. on a school day
2. After 5 a.m. on a nonschool day
3. Until 10:15 p.m. on a day before a school day
4. Until midnight if no school the next day
5. Minors under 17 may not work during school hours

Maximum hours (may work)

1. 6 hours on a school day;
2. 8 hours on the last school day of the week - there are some exceptions for co-op (work-study) students, and students with an alternative education plan with a work component.
3. 10 hours a day on weekends, holidays, vacations, teacher workshops
4. 24 hours a week in any week with 3 or more school days
5. 50 hours a week each week there are less than 3 scheduled school days or during 1st and last week of school year
6. May not work more than 6 days in a row

These are the highlights of who can work as a minor child and their age-based restrictions. There are exceptions to these rules, but they can get complicated, so if someone is considering an exception, I'd encourage them to contact the Maine Department of Labor directly to ask questions and get guidance. For information on contacting the MDOL and who can work under what conditions, CLICK HERE.

So now that we have attempted to clarify who can work and under what conditions, many folks' next question is, how do I get a worker's permit for my child? Here is an updated outline of the process:

UPDATED Work Permit instructions - Gorham

1. All Work Permit rules & regulations information can be found on the GSD’s website. Under Gorham High School/ Student Life/ Work Permits 
2. The Work Permit form can be downloaded from the link provided on the webpage. You will be connected to the Maine Department of Labor. There is also a quick link to download the PDF for the Work Permit. 
3. The student has to have a “promise of a job,” and that information must be completed within the “information of Employer” section. Please provide email information if possible. 
4. The first section is for the “Minor” and must be completed. Please provide email information for the student and preferably use their Gorham school Gmail. 
5. The form must have the parent’s signature, printed name, and phone number. 
6.  The requirement questions regarding the minor will be verified through the schools while school is in session. 
7. The Superintendent’s signature will be taken care of by the school issuing officer. 
8. All completed Work Permit applications can be emailed by the parent to Amy Sullivan at amy.sullivan@gorhamschools.org or dropped off with Amy at the Guidance office of the High School. Middle school students can drop off the applications with Terry Lamontagne in the Guidance office of the Middle school.
9. A birth certificate is no longer needed to prove age. The information will be retrieved from Infinite Campus for enrolled students. However, students attending alternative schooling may need to provide proof of age.

Note: Work Permits need to be submitted for approval from the School Department on a secured link with the Maine Department of Labor. This is for all resident children of this age group, including home-schooled children and/or students who may attend school outside the Gorham Public Schools. Once the Work Permit is approved, a copy will be forwarded to the Parent by email, or the Student can pick it up from the Guidance office.

Navigating the worker's permit process can confuse parents, but please know we are here to help. If you have questions about the process, please contact Amy Sullivan (email above), and she can direct you to the answers you seek. Thank you!

DID YOU KNOW THAT GORHAM SCHOOL BUSES ARE MAINTAINED BY OUR INCREDIBLE PARTNERS AT GORHAM PUBLIC WORKS?

Our transportation department operates approximately 31 large school buses, 6 small school buses, and 9 vans daily to transport our students. These buses and the fantastic drivers who drive them cover hundreds of miles of roads each day, carrying the most precious cargo possible—our children!

Just think about all the tires, spark plugs, fuel pumps, seats, brakes, lights, video cameras, and other parts of these vehicles that need to be maintained daily to ensure they run efficiently and safely for our schools. Maintaining our fleet is a big job with many responsibilities.

Now, get this. One person (Tim Richardson) with some part-time assistance (Noah Hughes) does all the maintenance work for our fleet to keep it roadworthy and pass state inspections without fail. That's right, just 1.5 FTE! Both Tim and Noah are employed by Gorham Public Works as part of a contracted service agreement that allows our schools to work collaboratively with our municipal partners to provide the staffing, supplies, and other materials needed to maintain our fleet. All this is done at the existing Public Works garage on top of all the work they must do to support their own public works vehicles, such as snow plows, dump trucks, and more!

I wanted to share this first and foremost to give a very public "shout out" to Tim and Noah, who directly do this incredible work for us, and to Terri Deering, PW Director, and his team at Gorham Public Works for providing the space, equipment, and collaboration that allow this symbiotic relationship to exist. So often, these folks go unnoticed, but when a bus breaks down on the side of the road with 45+ children inside, the importance of this work becomes crystal clear! THANK YOU, G.P.W. TEAM! GO RAMS!

Also, when you get a chance, if you see Tim, Noah, Terri, or any of the public works crew, please thank them for the incredible work they do for our community. They deserve it!

STUDENT ARTWORK COMING SOON TO GORHAM MUNICIPAL COUNCIL CHAMBERS!

As the winter months in Maine begin to get tiring and the lights and glow of the new year wear off, it's important to keep color in our lives! What better way to provide that extra color than to show off some of our own Gorham School Students' artwork at the Municipal center for Town Council Meetings, Planning Board meetings, School Committee meetings, and more?  

Starting in February, our schools have adopted a month through May (so Feb., March, April, May) to decorate the council chambers with their beautiful artwork! The art may be 2D or 3D and will be displayed throughout the council chambers.

The schedule is below:

* February - Gorham High School

* March - Gorham Middle School & Narragansett Elem. School

* April - Village Elementary School

* May - Great Falls Elementary School

Just one more reason to come check out our public meetings so you can also enjoy what I know will be some incredible artwork!  

Thank you to the Gorham Schools Art Teachers who agreed to take this on!  

- Chris Crosby - GHS

- Sarah Dolly - GHS

- Hannah West - GMS

- Amy Cousins - GMS

- Jeff Poole - Great Falls

- Laurie Chaisson - Narragansett

- Ally Robinson - Village.

So looking forward to this! GO RAMS!

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS COMING SOON!

Gorham High School Theater students Present the Little Shop of Horrors beginning the weekend of Jan. 31st! CLICK HERE for more information and to purchase tickets! Can't wait to see the show!

FREE COMMUNITY DINNER SPONSORED BY THE GALILEE CHURCH!

See flyer below for details if you are interested!

That's it for this blog post - see you again on Jan. 24!☺

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!