The principals of the five district schools reported on the opening of the school year at the Sept. 13 regular School Committee meeting. All reported an enthusiastic and positive school atmosphere, a sign that the pandemic disruptions have faded.
The unusually hot weather at the start of school sent some Gorham High School students to the air-conditioned Municipal Building, but next year there will be some air-conditioning at GHS, Principal Brian Jandreau said. He announced the new cell phone policy that requires students to park their phones in a “cell phone hotel” when entering the classroom. Teachers have reported the policy is already successful in encouraging more student conversation.
Gorham Middle School principal Quinten Donahue said that GMS is “nice and cool” since the 93 heat pumps were installed this summer. There were 673 registered students on opening day, an increase of about 30 over last year. His goals for the coming year include offering students more emotional and social support and reducing absenteeism. More than half of GMS students are participating in extra-curricular sport or music activities.
Principal Jodi Mezzanette of Village School and Erin Eppler, principal of Narragansett School spoke for all three elementary schools because Becky Fortier, principal of Great Falls School could not attend. They thanked the district’s maintenance crew for making the buildings ready for students and parents for helping teachers get their classrooms ready.
Opening attendance was 428 at Village, 498 at Great Falls, and 409 at Narragansett, including 55 new pre-K students. There are two new accessible playground structures at Narragansett. The pre-K playground is still under construction. The district received a grant for instruction in increasing community building in elementary school classrooms.
Norm Justice, director of maintenance and transportation, reported on his “busiest summer in 14 years.” Ninety-three heat pumps were installed at GMS and 71 VAVs in Phase I of the GHS mechanical upgrade project. They added Co2 sensors to improve ventilation and installed new LED lighting. Every light fixture at GHS was replaced, as were two boilers. Carpet was replaced in the Guidance office.
Workers patched the Village flooring yet again and replaced the walk-in freezer and cooler. At Narragansett they did site work for the new modulars and for the new pre-K playground., as well as enclosing the open walkway. Justice thanked the maintenance crew for lots of moving and the contractors for the work they did on these projects. Finally, he reiterated his call for more bus drivers. They are fully staffed now but expect some vacancies at mid-year.
Student representatives to the SC, Aislyn McLean and Amelia Olari, spoke in support of the new GHS cell phone policy. They announced that the fall GHS production will be “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Superintendent Heather Perry said that district enrollment on opening day was 2,855, including pre-K students. She recognized the staff for their behind-the scenes work on data required for receiving the state subsidy. The district is mostly fully staffed; there are three open ed tech positions and the new data manager position has not been filled. She said that there is a new section accessible from the district website that will give more information on curriculum at every grade level.
Stewart McCallister of the Finance/Facilities Committee reported $63,000 was left over from the F23 budget that will go into the fund balance. He said that since the $600,000 was taken from the Fund Balance for the F24 budget, this is not really a new savings.
The SC passed the 2023-24 School Committee Meeting calendar, which includes a joint meeting with the Town Council in December. They also approved the Superintendent’s 2023-2024 goals. These include reviewing and revising the district’s Code of Conduct, strengthening communication with the Town Council, facilitating a joint ad hoc committee with the Town Council, exploring classroom configuration in the district, and creating a vision for K-12 alternative education.
They approved a FY25 Budget timeline and voted to create a joint ad hoc committee with the Town of Gorham.