At the School Committee special meeting on July 26, the day after voters rejected the latest attempt at passing a FY24 budget, Michelle Littlefield was one of six people who addressed the committee during the time for public comments. The mother of two Gorham school children, she thanked the committee for their work and urged them to submit a budget to Town Council that “meets our students’ needs.”
Littlefield, who voted no on July 25, said, “I do not believe this town is as polarized as it sometimes feels. We all want the same thing: an amazing education for our kids and consideration of the taxpayer burden. I ask that you and the Town Council work together to bring forward a budget that does not do such a disservice to our children.”
Littlefield said she apologized for the town not showing up in June when the proposed $51.5 million budget was defeated, 956 to 660. On July 25, 3,785 came out and 2,742 voted to defeat a $48.6 million budget approved by the Town Council, but not endorsed by the School Committee.
After the voters rejected the second budget, the School Committee released a statement that said their job is “to create a third proposed budget that acknowledges all the important community voices we have heard to date. This third budget will strive to find that all-important balance our community seeks between the needs of our children and our taxpayers.
Although this second budget was defeated, the school department is required to operate with it until a new one is approved by the School Committee, Town Council, and Gorham voters. At the July 26 special meeting, they had to lay off four classroom teachers and Assistant Superintendent Brian Porter. Four ed techs also lost their jobs. Other reductions were for positions not yet filled.
Middle school athletics would still be eliminated, and high school sports would become “pay-for-play,” because the budget approved by the Town Council is still in effect. Currently, half of Gorham High School students participate in after-school athletics. All co-curricular activities, which include theater and music programs, would be eliminated as would other reductions required by the $48.6 budget.
The School Committee will meet on Aug. 2 to create and vote on a third budget. They plan to bring it to the Town Council at a public meeting on Aug. 8. If the Council approves a budget on that date, it will go before the voters for a referendum on Aug. 15.
At the meeting on the 26th, Superintendent Heather Perry agreed that the community “wants us back to the table” and asked the committee to consider the next budget within the larger context. “What do we believe in and why; what is our target,” she said, “We need to build a bridge between what we need for our students and our community’s needs. It is not about looking back but moving forward.”
She asked the committee members for guidelines in preparing a budget proposal for consideration on Aug. 2. The committee consensus was that they were looking for a reduction of no more than $500,000 from the $50,585,845 budget given to the Town Council on July 11. Perry said that she and the District Leadership Team would bring to the meeting a prioritized proposal with suggested reductions of between $400,00 to $1 million.
The School Committee’s June 11 budget would have produced a $.99 increase on the mil, which meant that the tax increase on a home valued at $400,000 would have been $396. There would have been a $.30 increase on mil, or a tax increase of only $122, on the same home if the budget rejected by voters on July 25 had passed. As one voter put it, we are looking for the Goldilock solution, the one that is just right.