At the last regular School Committee (SC) meeting, Superintendent Heather Perry reported that the Legislature will probably hold a special session at which they will set the subsidy amounts for schools, enabling the district to finalize the subsidy amount for FY 19. In a later action, the SC voted unanimously that any appropriated monies beyond that already reflected in the budget will be used to reduce property taxes. However, this is not expected to be much, if any, additional monies.
Perry has placed a copy of the letter sent to the Town Council in support of the budget on the district website, as well as the schedule for a series of meetings with community groups to answer questions about the budget. The SC will present the budget to the Town Council on May 15.
Terri Dawson, Technology Integrator, and seven students from the GMS I-Team gave a presentation of the innovative projects they have developed during the school year. The group, open to all middle school students, meets every Monday afternoon. Students demonstrated coding projects that ranged from stopmotion automation to 3-D printing.
Dr. Don Kennedy of NESDEC (New England Development Council), a firm contracted by the School Committee to make school enrollment projections, gave an interim report. The firm, which has done projections for more than 400 districts, bases its findings largely on demographic information and enrollment history. Using primarily Gorham birth rate data and figures for new construction, the consultants believe that K-12 enrollments are likely to maintain a strong pace of growth. Even if growth slows some in the early 2020s, they project an increase of 466 students by 2027-28, which they consider to be a conservative estimate.
The committee voted to adopt a new transportation policy beginning in the next school year. In summary, the policy states that students may be assigned two pick-up locations in the morning and two afternoon drop-off locations. These locations must be either a residence, certified daycare, or the Gorham Rec. after school program. Locations remain in place for the entire school year; there can be no daily changes. Requests for changes can only be considered if they are in effect for the remainder of the year.
During the public comment time before the meeting, Trish Moulton, owner of Dance Studio of Maine, asked the committee to reconsider the policy of only permitting certified daycares as drop-off locations. Dennis Libby, chair of the Policy Committee, emphasized that the policy changes were initiated for safety reasons, not to save money. Kate Livingston commented that the new policy would be less restrictive than those of neighboring districts. The policy was approved as presented (6-1, Wright abstaining due to potential conflict of interest).
In other business, the SC voted (7-0) to approve the GHS Building Programatic Needs Document. This gives the GHS Building committee and architects permission to con- tinue the planning process. Darryl Wright made it clear that passage of this document in no way binds the SC as it is not a vote on any concepts or plans. During the public comment time, Jim Means had asked the committee to consider some virtual education classes as a way to limit the number of students that would be in the building at any one time, thereby reducing renovation costs.
The SC voted (7-0) to allow Superintendent Perry to move for- ward on a five-year MELMAC grant that would fund a cooperative program with community organizations and businesses to prepare students for transitions, ranging from beginning kindergarten to work and educational opportunities following GHS graduation. This pilot program would be fully funded by the grant.
By unanimous vote, the committee approved extending contracts to a list of probationary teachers and to hire Kim Walker as Special Education teacher and Carlie Geiger as Speech/Language Pathologist.