Upcoming November School Renovation Bond Referendum

The Gorham School Committee will have a proposed bond on the November referendum this year. The purpose of this blog post is to inform the community about what this bond request is and how the money, if approved, will be expended to benefit the Gorham Schools and the children of this community.

The proposed bond request totals $1,175,500.00 and breaks out as follows:

School Roofs                                                                                    $          580,000.00

Mechanical Systems                                                                         $          370,500.00

High School/Middle School Locks & Hardware                                $          225,000.00

Explanation of Need and Proposed Work: 

School Roofs: Annually, the School Department conducts roof inspections for all schools. Based on these inspections, routine repairs are identified as well as replacement and restoration projects that will extend the useful life of a roof system.  This bond amount will restore Roofs 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8A & 8B at the Village School and required roof restoration and replacement at the High School of roofs 1, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 12A, 13 & 14.

Gorham High School Picture of roof structure above, schematic below.  Areas starred on the schematic are those areas proposed to be worked on.

Village School picture of roof structure above, schematic below.  Again, those areas starred are those proposed for work under this bond referendum.

Mechanical Systems: Typically most mechanical systems that provide heating and ventilating for schools have an estimated useful life of 20 years. Village School’s mechanical systems are more than 28 years old and have exceeded their useful life. This bonding will provide for the replacement of the boiler, 3 roof-top heating and ventilating units serving 12 classrooms, library and computer climate control systems and building energy management improvements.

High School/Middle School Locks & Hardware: Building Safety and Security are one of our most important obligations. The ability for teachers and staff to be able to lock classroom doors from inside their classroom is critical in emergency situations. The High School and Middle School classrooms do not have this capability. The High School classroom door hardware is also beyond its useful life and non-functional on many occasions. This bond amount will provide for replacement and addition of more than 500 locks and cylinders and door hardware at both the High School and Middle School.

There will be a public hearing on this proposed school referendum question in front of the Gorham Town Council on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 starting at 7:00 p.m.  During this public hearing, the Gorham School Committee will present information about the proposed bond request and will be available to answer any questions that the public may have regarding this proposed bond.  I would encourage anyone with questions to either attend the public hearing, view the hearing via GOCAT, or reach out to any school committee member or myself with questions.

Thank you!