The Gorham School Committee met for their monthly meeting on Feb. 8, 2023. During the allotted time for public comment, three parents spoke to thank the school committee and staff for their actions and care of the children of Gorham.
The student representatives, Ellie Szostalo and Aislyn McLean, offered updates on the events of the high school including Spirit Week, a fundraiser for Camp Sunshine, a Rock/Paper/Scissors Tournament, and the production of the musical, “Mary Poppins.”
Dr. Heather Perry, the school superintendent, offered several updates including the plan for snow days to become remote days if the system reaches the allotted five days and the ongoing budget process. Also, the Town Council moved the budget approval date to May 16 instead of June to allow more time for planning if budget numbers are changed. In addition, she thanked all of the school counselors for their service, particularly during School Counselor Week.
Eliza Kenigsberg, Aspire Director, and Grace Olsen, ELO Teacher provided a program review of the ELO Program, accompanied by teacher Nan Acker-Wolfhagen, parent and electrical engineer Lacey Kennedy, and student Alexis Deshaine. The number of students involved in ELO’s has increased dramatically in the past three years.
The purpose of ELO (Experience Learning Opportunities) is to provide students with information about career paths, work skills investigation, and partnerships with community workers to match individual student interests. One of the recent activities involved the Science X Program, where eleven community members teamed with nine science teachers to highlight careers in the science field. Ms. Olsen also highlighted two of her students who are successfully working with an electrician and a veterinary clinic, respectively, to build on their individual interests and further their learning in those careers.
In a second program review, Social Worker, Brooke Proulx, provided data on the MIYHS assessment that is given annually to students in grades 7-12 to assess risk factors for substance abuse and mental health and to review protective factors that support student growth. These results help to direct the development of parent forums, policy changes and general information on support and service needs for students. Risk factors seemed to rise just before COVID both locally and statewide, but the hope is that they are now leveling off.
Perry presented the proposal for the school calendar for the 2023-24 school year. The only significant change from this year’s calendar was to move one of the four teacher in-service days in August and place it on the November election day. The calendar was approved 6-0.
The school committee goals were discussed and approved (6-0). The school committee also unanimously approved two GHS work proposals for LED lighting and HVAC to EMC and Johnson and Jordan, respectively.
Finally, before going into a series of executive sessions, Superintendent Perry provided the school committee with the budget notebooks for their review. The initial budget hearing will be on Feb. 28th at 7:00 in Conference Room A at the Municipal Center. More information on the proposed budget may be found on the school committee website.