On April 14 the Gorham School Committee voted 7-0 to approve a $44,568,143 budget for FY22. This is an overall increase of $1,853,688 or 4.34% over the FY 21 budget. The Town Council will vote on the proposed budget on May 11. The public referendum vote will be held June 8. If approved, this budget represents an increase in the mil rate of 58 cents over FY21. A taxpayer with a home assessed at $300,000 would pay $177 more in property taxes.
Prior to voting, School Committee (SC) members thanked Superintendent Heather Perry, the District Leadership Team (DLT), and district faculty and staff for their time and effort in preparing their FY22 budget request. Contractual obligations and increases in insurance rates projected for the coming year accounted for a $1.3 increase over FY21. Other factors were additional costs associated with greater need for Special Education programming, capital improvements, and an increase in money for the School Nutritional Program because of lost revenue due to COVID-19. This initial budget proposed by the DLT projected an increase of 8.53% over the FY21 budget.
The approved budget with a 4.34% increase over FY21 was achieved in part by hard decisions that eliminated some existing expenditures and new initiatives prioritized by the DLT. Many new initiatives, Perry said, “were due to focus on academic and social and emotional support for students due to COVID-19.”
Among reductions the SC made to the proposed budget were funds for a human resource director, some requested ed tech positions, funding for additional transportation dispatcher and administrative assistant support, an additional part-time speech therapist, an additional guidance counselor position, and a request for new staff laptops.
In anticipation of necessary instructional support in the fall when schools return to full in-person learning, three teaching positions will be funded by allocations from the Federal CARES Act. Other new positions include an English Language Learning (ELL) teacher and Special Education teacher.
All School Committee members supported the budget. Stewart McCallister said although it was not what everyone wanted, he believed it was a balance between what students need and what taxpayers can support. James Brockman, who is serving his first year on the SC, said that after an intense month of compromise he felt “every page has been picked over and any further cuts would be harmful to students.”
A budget booklet prepared for the Town Council will be on the Gorham School Department website and available for the public.