After more than 20 years of guiding the expectations and outcomes for all staff and students, Gorham Schools’ Code of Conduct is being reviewed and updated.
Since 2000, Respect, honesty, courage, compassion and responsibility are the core values that can be heard and seen at each of the five schools, and are anchors for the behavior expectations for all members of the Gorham school community.
Established in response to statewide legislation in 1999 that mandated all schools develop a code of conduct, Gorham embraced the opportunity, engaging in a yearlong process in which staff, students, families, and Gorham community members were invited to share their ideas on what characteristics should be expected, taught and reinforced in our schools. Of the Code of Conduct, Superintendent Perry said, “The Code of Conduct is a core component of our schools; it’s valuable to prepare students for future success and reflects the foundational skills that are needed to be successful in any post-secondary endeavor, whether it’s career, college or the military.”
A member of the school committee at the time, local business owner Jon Smith led the 2000 process of gathering stakeholder input and buy-in, beginning with the “why” for expectations for behavior. Through a rigorous and lengthy process, Gorham residents weighed in, providing insights and ideas. What was developed, and then approved by the school committee, included the five core values, and the agreement that “Such conduct is fundamental to a supportive, safe, and orderly school environment and a civil society.”
While the work of Smith and others has stood the test of time and served the school community well, the district’s leadership team determined that it was time to review the Code of Conduct, to ensure it remains timely and impactful. Superintendent Perry celebrated the strength of the current Code of Conduct, but also noted the importance of periodic review to ensure it continues to reflect the current and future expectations of our ever-changing community and the context in which our schools are operating. Perry said, “this is a refresh, not a redo,” noting the current code has been effective, and has been a bedrock in Gorham schools.
With a districtwide Code of Conduct, the schools all use the same language, they all celebrate and teach to the code of conduct, and it creates a consistency of expectations.
Along with education consultant Suzanne Godin, Jon Smith has signed on once again to help facilitate the process of reviewing and providing any updates to the current code of conduct.
An eighteen member stakeholder committee, composed of students, guardians, school personnel, and community members first met this fall to begin the review process. Next a “thought exchange,” an online platform where people can reply to questions, rate other ideas, and give general feedback, was created and shared widely in order to gather input from the larger community. The stakeholder committee reviewed the results, examined the data and began creating theories to explore.
In addition, Godin has met with various focus groups, and the committee held two listening sessions in February, with the hopes of sharing the initial findings and gathering more input from the community at large. The listening sessions were sparsely attended, however members of the public are invited once again to provide feedback on April 4 at 6:00 pm in the 2nd floor superintendent’s conference room of the Gorham Municipal Building.
Updates to the process and any proposed changes will be shared through the Superintendent’s weekly blog, found on the Gorham School Department website. School committee will review and approve any revisions in the fall of 2024, as the code of conduct is policy.