On Wednesday, Jan. 8, the Gorham School Committee held their first regular monthly meeting of the 2025 year. Assistant Superintendent Quinton Donahue joined the committee members, all of whom were present.
Due to the holiday break, there were no administrative updates, and most of the standing committees had not met, with many slated for meetings in the coming weeks.
Village Elementary School’s 5th grade ambassadors, advised by Stacey Sawyer, assisted Principal Jodi Mezzanotte in demonstrating one of the weekly lessons all students receive through the Building Assets, Reducing Risk (BARR) curriculum. The lessons help students build interpersonal skills and positive relationships with self, peers, and adults. Principal Mezzanotte shared a Ted Talk video by Drew Dudley, explaining “lollipop moments,” times in which one person makes another person feel good, but often doesn’t know the impact of that kindness. To demonstrate this, the students praised each School Committee member and Asst. Supt. Donahue with a personalized message of their individual contributions, while handing each a lollipop.
The students next explained the Circle Up Books program, a schoolwide monthly read-aloud. The Circle Up Books were curated by VES staff to ensure a broad representation of thoughts, ideas and backgrounds, and to align with and reflect the Gorham Schools’ Code of Conduct. The student ambassadors conducted interviews of staff and students about the program and reported the many positive responses. School Committee Student Representative Amelia Olaru commended the student presenters, noting that she too was once an ambassador from Village, and encouraged them to continue to make a difference.
Special Education Director Kathy Hamblen provided a history and update on Gorham’s MaineCare billing for services provided to students with special education needs.
During her communications update, Student Representative Amelia Olaru encouraged community members to buy tickets early and online to see “Little Shop of Horrors” Jan. 31 through Feb. 9, as shows sold out last year.
Assistant Superintendent Donahue noted Governor Mills has formed a commission to study school construction issues. Also, the first draft of a budget will be released soon, and will serve as the starting point for conversations on what gets pulled out until there is a final budget presented in the spring. He announced that there will be 26 additional slots for Gorham’s free public pre-k program in the 2025-2026 school year, for 138 total slots available.
After 8 years of service, School Committee member Stewart McCallister announced his resignation due to his increased responsibilities at work, and not feeling he can adequately serve the Gorham community with attendance and the important learning needed to be an effective committee member. Each board member thanked him for his dedication and service, his kindness and commitment; many shared specific examples and stories to exemplify his integrity, knowledge sharing, and thoughtfulness.
Chairperson Sarah Perkins explained that they will fill the vacant committee seat by February, and there will be an election in June, the winner of which will finish Mr. McCallister’s term in November.
Committee member Michelle Littlefield reviewed the Committee’s three formal goals for the 2024-2025 school year. They include the development of a robust communications plan, increasing their knowledge of programming in Gorham Schools, and focusing on fiscal sustainability efforts.
The meeting adjourned at 7:58 p.m.