For more than a month, the Gorham School Committee has been working on a F24 budget that will include increases over the F23 budget due to inflation, necessary services, and largely unavoidable costs. Their goal is to arrive at a budget figure that will not reduce programming directly affecting students. The committee will have made hard decisions at a final workshop on April 11 before voting April 12 on the budget they will submit to the Town Council.
Unfortunately, unavoidable expenses account for $3,478,261 of the $5,168,486 proposed increase in the F24 operating budget over the F23 budget. Contractual salary increases amount to $2,124,688 and accounts for 5.93% of the propose operating increase on its own. Health insurance costs have gone up 6% for a total increase of $391,828. The increase for utilities, mostly electricity, is projected to be $341,429. The administration has identified another $461,000 in unavoidable costs such as out-of-district tuition, insurance, and accounting software support.
New monies needed just to sustain current programs accounts for $992,500. Much of this is for replacing outdated, but necessary, technology and increased special education staff and services. The elementary school autism program alone is expected to add at least twelve more students next year. Statewide increase in special education students has grown from 16% four years ago to 20% of the student population today. Gorham’s figures are in line with this.
The proposed budget submitted by the District administration also includes $2,573,000 for capital improvements, much of which would be for deferred maintenance projects at most of the district’s five buildings and for an HVAC project at Narragansett Elementary School.
The main revenue sources are various state subsidies and local taxes. General Purpose Aid from the state is projected to be roughly $21,144,000, which includes $695,000 just added due to a mistake in distribution calculations by the state. The majority of additional funds to support the school budget comes for Gorham property taxpayers.
Superintendent Heather Perry and the District Leadership Team has given the School Committee prioritized lists of possible reductions from the budget they submitted in February. Using this guide, the School Committee has been discussing substantial cuts as they work through the process of approving a F24 budget to submit to the Town Council. These workshops, open to the public, have been recorded and are posted on the district website. Additional material about the budget also can be accessed from the website. At a June 13 election, Gorham voters will be asked to approve the final budget figure as determined by the Town Council.