We are through the first week in March! Couple of cold days this week, but you can still feel the edge of spring approaching! I don't know about you - but I can't wait to get outside more and feel the WARM sunshine again...Maine winters are beautiful and there are so many great things to do, but nothing beats spring and I am looking forward to it this year for sure! As we finish up our 24th week of face to face instruction in our hybrid model of learning here in Gorham...I have several things to share, so I'll get right to it!
COVID 19 VACCINATION UPDATE
On Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Governor Mills announced an adjustment in the state's eligibility for COVID 19 vaccinations. On this day we became aware that educators will be eligible to become vaccinated at the same time as those who are 60+. We in public schools are all very, very excited about this and are looking forward to vaccinations, but please know it is still going to take some time for school employees to actually get their shots. At the same time Gov. Mills announced this change, expanding the number of folks eligible to be vaccinated significantly across the state, there was no significant increase in the supply of vaccinations. Bottom line, although we are pleased with this recent announcement, I want to be clear it will likely be sometime before all those school employees who wish to become vaccinated are actually vaccinated. The good news is - this announcement has definitely sped up the overall process for educators who I believe should have the opportunity to be fully vaccinated by the end of April. Let's keep our fingers crossed this holds true.
While I'm updating folks on this new development I want to be clear about something that is very important because I know the next leap parents may make is that once school staff are vaccinated we can immediately return to "normal". Unfortunately, this will not be the case. I absolutely wish it could be...but it will not be. Even after all staff are vaccinated, many other adults in our community will not be and our students also will not be. COVID 19 is still very much "out there" and we all will need to remain vigilant as we wait for more and more adults to become vaccinated. What this likely means is that the safety protocols we have in place are likely to remain in place through the end of the school year. School staff being vaccinated is an important FIRST STEP to returning our schools to more "normal" operations, however it is not the only step that must be made before we can. Current MDOE required safety guidelines for schools to remain open must continue to be followed which include:
1. Wearing face coverings
2. Washing/sanitizing hands frequently
3. Maintaining physical distancing.
The one that most impacts our ability to move to more face to face time is the last one on that list. It is the same item that required us to open up in the hybrid model this past fall. Basically...with more students on site, you need more square footage in buildings to accommodate and unfortunately this is something we are short on here in Gorham. Here's an example: A classroom at GHS that normally holds 20 students may only be able to hold 16 with 3 ft. of physical distance...what do we do with the other 4 students that won't fit if we return to face to face instruction. Take this issue and multiply times about 130 classrooms across the district and you can see where the problem is...and then tack on the issue of having to have a full 6 ft. of separation for students to eat (because they have to remove masks)...well that just makes things very very difficult indeed.
Last week I shared with you data that showed that our hybrid model is doing exactly what we need it to do. I shared the really good news is that our students, although certainly learning in a less than ideal environment, are in fact learning what they need to learn to move forward in the coming year successfully. Here's a few slides to demonstrate:
K-5 Highlight slides:
At their last meeting, the School Committee asked me to develop 3 scenarios that might allow us to increase face to face time for our students in Gorham later this spring while still following all required safety guidelines. I will be working with our District Leadership team to develop these three scenarios at a high level and will present them to the School Committee at their meeting on March 24, 2021. For each scenario we will clearly identify the +/- of each idea and what the unintended consequences of moving forward may be on our students, our families and/or our staff. The School Committee will then give us direction as to whether or not they wish to pursue any (or none) of these ideas for the spring. We will go forward from there.
I share this information with parents because although vaccinations are offering us all a great deal of hope and optimism, we must still maintain vigilance in ensuring our children are safe while attending our schools. I want parents to know we are listening...we know you want more face to face time with students and their teachers. We know you are worried about the wellbeing of your children as the pandemic continues to interrupt our lives. We know you are tired of having to juggle child care with schooling with jobs and with your own personal sanity. Please know we will continue to do all we can to support our students, our parents and our staff as we continue to navigate this Pandemic together. We just need to make sure that whatever we do, we do it in a way that is safe and in a way that doesn't accidentally cause more "harm" than "good". A delicate balance indeed - but one we will endeavor to undertake! Please stay tuned after the March 24 School Committee meeting for more information and in the meantime...hang in there parents! WE LOVE YOU and you are all doing an INCREDIBLE JOB!
P.S. - I WANT TO BE CLEAR...IT IS OUR ABSOLUTE INTENT TO BEGIN SCHOOL NEXT FALL IN A 5 DAY PER WEEK MODEL ACROSS GRADES K-12.
FY 22 PROPOSED SCHOOL BUDGET UPDATE
The School Committee had its first budget workshop meeting on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021. It is still VERY EARLY in the process, but I wanted to provide a relatively brief overview of where we are. First it is important to know what our four major priorities were in the development of the initially proposed budget. Those were:
1. Ensuring we are PREPARED for the already identified, and possibly yet unknown impacts of COVID 19 upon our schools
To address these items we included:
*. An addition of 2 K-5 teachers to maintain optimal class sizes for K-5 classrooms. This will allow class sizes to remain relatively small for the 2021-22 school year so that teachers may more readily differentiate instruction for all students.
*. Additional nurse supports for their continued increased responsibilities in our pandemic world across all schools.
*. An addition of 1 Remote teacher K-8 and one Remote teacher 9-12 to address continuing health concerns of some families for students to return to school in a face to face environment next year.
2. Maintaining and strengthening our Technology infrastructure and providing ongoing professional development for staff.
To address these items we included:
*. Funds to support upgrades to GMS and GHS wifi networks.
*. Funds to support the purchase of devices for GMS 6th grade students to align with the state's new MLTI 2.0 program.
3. Maintaining and strengthening our CURRICULUM and SUPPORT programming for students across grades K-12
To address these items we included:
*. Funds to support the purchase of a new K-8 math curriculum.
*. Funds to support adding a school counselor at GMS.
4. Addressing our overall Facilities needs.
To address these items we included:
*. Over $600,000.00 in needed Capital Improvement Items.
The School Committee requested that I provide a proposed budget to address these and all needs of our district, which I did. However, the School Committee also requested that if that proposed budget represented a greater than 3% increase in overall expenditures that I also provide for them a "road map" for prioritized reductions that would allow them to reach 3%. Just so you are aware, if we did nothing new to address COVID 19 and other needs and just moved existing staff into the coming year the overall increase in expenditures would be a little over 2.5%. The superintendent's initially proposed budget represented an 8.5% overall increase in expenditures over last year's budget. Therefore, a reductions list was part of the proposed budget totaling just over $2.1 million dollars in possible reductions.
The School Committee is now taking the important time to understand the items included in the proposed budget and the implications of proposed increases and potential reductions to the overall ability of our district to meet the needs of our children. This work began last weekend, and will continue over the course of the next full month. Ultimately, the Superintendent's proposed budget will transition into the School Committee's proposed budget and will be voted on by the School Committee in early April. Once the School Committee approves the proposed budget, it must then be brought to the Town Council for approval in early June and then to the voters of Gorham via referendum, also in June.
As I mentioned earlier - there is still a LONG WAY TO GO in this process. I'll do my best to keep you all informed along the way.
If you'd like to review the 250+ page Initial Proposed School Budget...you can do so by CLICKING HERE. Please reach out with any questions you. may have.
GHS THEATER PRESENTS ...
Our very own GHS theater students will be presenting a production of vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play NEXT WEEKEND, Friday 3/12, Saturday 3/13 and Sunday 3/14 at 7:30 p.m. or Sunday 3/14 at 2:00 p.m.! This regular length play filled with spies, murder, love and suspense is actually a set of three one acts, each one based on an early film of the famous Alfred Hitchcock. You can guy a streaming link for the show you want to see using the links below! Check it out! Gonna be a great show!
ASPIRE GORHAM MARCH NEWSLETTER
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THANK YOU SOCIAL WORKERS AND MAINTENANCE WORKERS!
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