April is here, and with it comes spring weather, right? Not sure we've seen it yet, but I have faith it is on the way! This blog post has lots of great information to share, so I'll get right to it after we see some images from our schools for the past two weeks! Our students and staff are clearly having fun learning in the Gorham Schools!
Now, on to the information!
UPCOMING APPRECIATION DAYS
The spring of the year is always full of appreciation days for our schools. For those of you who like to pay attention to these things, I wanted to provide a list of those coming up and the dates so you have them and can think about how you may like to show your appreciation for these critical folks.
This week is Assistant Principal Appreciation Week. We have SIX incredible Assistant Principals across our five schools, so if you haven't already given them a "shout out" for a fantastic job well done in supporting our students, families, and staff, feel free to do so! They are: Deanna Etienne, AP at Great Falls; Sean Hanson, AP at Narragansett; Cheryl Fotter, AP at Village; Vanessa Nickerson, AP at GMS; and Marc Sawyer and Christina Cifelli, APs at GHS.
The next big appreciation week is National Volunteer Appreciation Week. The Gorham Schools has well over 500 volunteers registered in our schools this year, so a HUGE SHOUT OUT to those who volunteer to work with our students! We wanted to show our appreciation so much that we scheduled our April vacation so you all could have a week off! OK, not really, but the appreciation week is the same as our April break - April 21 - 25. THANK YOU to all who volunteer in our schools! It truly makes our community strong, and we LOVE having you!☺
National Principal Appreciation Day will be May 1st this year. Once again, we have some incredible leaders in each of our schools, so please feel free to send them an email or a little card, or if you see them, give them a high five and a pat on the back for a job well done. Without incredible leadership in our schools, the rest just doesn't work well! We have five of the best! They are Brian Jandreau, GHS Principal; Lucas Witham, GMS Principal; Becky Fortier, Great Falls Principal; Erin Eppler, Narragansett Principal; and Jodi Mezzanotti, Village Principal! THANK YOU for all that you do for our schools.
Finally, the biggest of them all...National Teacher Appreciation Week! This year, National Teacher Appreciation week is slated for May 5 - May 9, 2025. Let's be sure to absolutely "spoil" our teachers during this week, as they deserve every single accolade for their incredible work with our students! They are passionate, they are caring, and they are what make our schools great! It doesn't take much to share your appreciation. A quick email or card, a smile, a high five. Sometimes, as a teacher, it is hard to see the positive impact you make every day, but there is no doubt that our teachers are at the heart of our community's success! Their impact lasts a lifetime!
I don't know whether parents/guardians realize it, but there is also a National Day of Appreciation for your hard work and dedication! Raising a family in today's world is no small task, and we have the absolute best parents/guardians around. Of course, I could be biased! The National Day of Appreciation for Parents/Guardians is scheduled for the fourth Sunday of July- July 27 this year! Let's all make sure to celebrate one another when this date rolls around later this summer!
We all have vital roles in our children's and our community's success. It is important to celebrate what Gorham has - a vibrant community! A community that cares for all of its members, young or aging. A community willing to roll their sleeves up to help one another. A community where we don't just talk about doing the right thing but actively work to do the right thing. A community where our Code of Conduct is a "lived" set of values.
I have served this great community for ten years, and I couldn't be more proud of this gift of service! THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS—those who have "special days" and those who perhaps do not! That old saying, "It takes a village to raise a child," is alive and well here in Gorham because of all of you!
FY 26 PROPOSED SCHOOL BUDGET UPDATE
On Wednesday night, the Gorham School Committee voted 7-0 to approve the proposed FY 26 Gorham School Department Budget. Each School Committee member spoke regarding their work over the past two months to create this budget and what they feel it brings to our community. I strongly encourage folks who were not at the meeting to watch the meeting recording to hear these important messages from your elected officials charged with providing quality education for all children in the community of Gorham.
The approved budget will have the smallest impact on taxes that a proposed school budget has had in Gorham since 2015! The estimated impact to this proposed school budget is an increase in the mill of $.30 or a 3.15% increase in local taxes. A home valued at $400,000.00 would increase by $120.00 due to this proposed budget.
Although the increasing needs of our students and corresponding expenditure increases remain a challenge, the key difference in this year's budget development process is that we had some additional revenue to work with to offset taxpayer expenses. It has been a focal point of the Gorham School Committee for the past 4 years to do what it can to increase revenues that support our schools, and this is the first year we are seeing some of that work pay off in the accumulation of fund balance that can then be used to offset taxpayer expense.
Over that time, we have done the following to expand our revenues:
- We have worked to maximize every penny of Maine's school subsidy formula, the Essential Programs and Services funding model (EPS). Part of our work here was collaborating with the town to "shelter" some of our community's state property value using TIFs. Another significant work done recently was maximizing and reporting Free/Reduced Lunch rates in Gorham more accurately. This alone gained us just over $700,000.00 in subsidy for FY 26. Thank you to those who completed your forms! ☺ It really did make a huge difference! This year, through a combination of these efforts, we gained $2.1M in subsidies from the state to support public education.
- We have added CDS (Child Development Services) billing as a small revenue stream each year. This program is operated through our Pre K program. We basically provide needed specialized services to students with specific learning plans and then bill CDS for the provision of these services. This program will change significantly within the next few years as CDS responsibilities will be moved entirely to the local school systems. Still, this has added a revenue stream to the district for now. More on this as we move closer to the 2027-2028 school year when this law takes effect. This year, we gained $100,000.00 in revenue for this work.
- We have added State Agency Client billing. This allows us to bill for specialized services provided to students who are direct state agency clients. These students in DHHS care often need special education services as part of their Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). This year, we gained $150,000.00 in revenue for this work.
- For several years, we have gained revenues from the EPS funding formula for participating in the Greater Sebago Education Alliance (GSEA). This is our regional service center, which is comprised of 11 other school districts in the area that get together to reduce costs for things like bulk purchasing, shared professional development, and more. However, we have added additional funds for the past two years because this organization is paying the Gorham School Department for my services as the GSEA Executive Director. This has added approximately $40,000.00 annually in revenue for the Gorham Schools.
- Finally, we have worked over the past several years to open our schools to students from the community of Sebago. Since Sebago has its own PK-5 school, students who may attend the Gorham Schools at these grade levels may do so under a Superintendent's agreement. However, once students reach 6th grade, students from Sebago who attend the Gorham Schools in grades 6-12 pay tuition. This year, we can recognize approximately $25,000.00 in additional revenues due to this work.
At the end of the day, although our proposed budget expenditures are up over last year's budget by a total of $4,068,266.00 or 7.6%, we were able to utilize these additional revenue streams to reduce the impact to Gorham taxpayers down to the .30 cents on the Mil or 3.15% overall.
You can CLICK HERE for a copy of the budget summary sheet. You can also CLICK HERE to view all the information/meetings we used to get us to this vote. As we get closer to the validation referendum vote, more information will also be coming out, so please stay tuned!
In continued collaboration with the Town, this proposed budget will provide the programs our students need for success while best balancing the needs of our taxpayers who support our schools. We look forward to the remainder of the process to get to a finally approved FY 26 budget.
The remaining steps are:
- Sending Proposed Budget Booklet to Town Council by April 16.
- Holding a Joint meeting with the Town Council on April 29 at 6:30 p.m. in Conference Rm. A (Downstairs of municipal building). This meeting is open to the public and will be live-streamed and recorded via GoCAT TV.
- Holding a second Joint meeting with the Town Council (IF NEEDED) on May 6 at 6:30 p.m. in Conference Rm. A (Downstairs of Municipal Building). This meeting is open to the public and will be live-streamed and recorded via GoCAT TV.
- Town Council Public Hearing and Vote on the proposed town budget, which includes the schools' budget) on May 13 at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers. This meeting is open to the public and will be live-streamed and recorded via GoCAT TV.
- Public School Budget Validation Referendum on June 10. Voting will be held at the usual polling locations! Be sure to get out and vote!
If you have any questions about the proposed budget, please email me at heather.perry@gorhamschools.org. THANK YOU!
HOW ARE OUR SCHOOLS FUNDED ANYWAY?
Over the past several weeks, I've had many questions regarding how our schools are funded and, specifically, what programs or services may be financed via federal dollars. I wanted to help folks see how this is broken out for our Gorham Schools.
First, it is essential to note that our schools have two key funding streams. The most significant funding stream is our General Fund Budget. This portion of our budget is funded by state and local taxpayers and reported directly to the State of Maine. This is the budget approved each year by you - the voter. Last year's approved general fund budget totaled $53,475,801.00. The revenue that supported this proposed budget can be seen below. I'll explain what each part is...
Senior Celebration - June 5, 2025 at 6:30 PM in the GHS auditorium - Each senior has 2 tickets to invite family.
Senior Walk - June 6, 2025 from 8:30-10:30 AM - Senior Walk through the schools, beginning with the high school and followed by Great Falls, Narragansett, Village, and GMS.
Graduation - June 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM at GHS - Each graduate will receive 8 tickets to give to family and friends. The event will be live-streamed (the link will be shared closer to graduation).
Graduation Caravan - June 8, 2025 at 7:30 PM- The entire town is invited to line Main Street to celebrate our graduates as they caravan with their families.
Thursday, May 22nd: Great Falls EOY Spring Fling Family Picnic, 5:30–7:00 p.m.
May 28th–June 4th: Grade-Level Field Days at the USM Fieldhouse
Wednesday, June 11th: Great Falls Parent/Guardian Step-Up Night, 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 11th: 5th Grade Step-Up Day at GMS
Thursday, June 12th: Grades K–4 Step-Up Day at Great Falls
The Survey will be open now through April 18, 2025. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR VALUED FEEDBACK!
A Message From School Committee Chair Sarah Perkins:
Dear Participants,
Each year we ask all staff, leadership team members, parents, community and school committee members to complete a 360 evaluation survey regarding the performance of our Superintendent. The results of this survey are used to inform her overall evaluation process with the School Committee and to assist Heather in the annual development of goals.
This survey is completely ANONYMOUS.
I encourage each parent/guardian and/or community member to please take 10-15 minutes to complete this survey. Your open and honest feedback is critical to her continued growth as a leader.
The questions are purposefully broad to allow for you to provide feedback on what is working well and what she can do to improve upon her practices. There is a spot at the end for any general comments you may have.
THANK YOU!
- Sarah Perkins, Gorham School Committee Chair
Parent/Family/Community Survey Link & QR Code:
That's it for this blog post. The next one won't be until May 2nd due to the April break! I wish everyone a fantastic break! Get some rest! We will all be "hitting the ground running" when we return!
