At the November 10 regular School Committee (SC) meeting, re-elected incumbents Anne Schools and Darryl Wright were voted chair and vice-chair of the committee. During the meeting the committee heard reports on school attendance and behavior, ASPIRE Gorham, and the impact the substitute shortage is having on teachers.
During the time for public comment, Gorham resident Jeffery Joyce said that he objected to being told that his dog could not be on Great Falls School property when unleashed, but under his control.
Superintendent Heather Perry reported that the Maine Department of education (MDOE) is working on rule changes that she is following closely. She is waiting for OSHA and MDOE regulations on vaccination requirements, but said the district vaccination rate for staff is 97%. Perry commended the school nurses and administrators at all five schools for their “countless hours of contact tracing and communicating to help keep students safe.” In addition she also thanked everyone who dealt so well with the recent Narragansett School gas leak.
Christina Cefelli chaired a committee of vice-principals from the district’s five schools that analyzed attendance and behavior data over the past three years. They emphasized the importance of common data points to ensure equitability across all schools when looking at trends.
Among other results, the committee found 42% of suspensions at Gorham High School (GHS) were from the 17% of students eligible for free lunches. Male students were 60% of the school’s chronic absentees. The 20% of students from lower income families accounted for 60% of these absences.
Data from Gorham Middle School (GMS) was similar, but with 83% of students disciplined or suspended being male. The three elementary schools also reported similar trends with students eligible for free lunches and students receiving special services over represented for behavioral and attendance issues.
Cefelli said that the schools are using restorative practices with students willing to work on behavior problems. Helping students grow and deal with issues is a positive although labor-intensive intervention. She felt that attendance problems were not worse than before COVID and that they are learning how to deal with them better. The committee would like to find ways to have more in-school suspensions instead of always sending students home.
Eliza Kenigsberg gave an update on the ASPIRE Gorham program she directs, designed to help students have meaningful lives with purposeful careers. Sidney Haskell, a GHS senior, spoke about her internship at Carter’s Automotive Center where her hands-on experience helped her decide on a career in the Air Force. Doug Carter said he enjoyed mentoring Sidney and other GHS students, in part because he remembered how important support from teachers and other adults had been to him. Sidney’s mother, Stacey Haskell, also spoke. She had encouraged her daughter to apply for the internship and hoped that GHS would give more students opportunities to learn about the trades.
Nathan Doane, another ASPIRE student, spoke about his internship at Narragansett School. His experience in a 3rd grade classroom strengthened his desire to be a teacher, and he will be studying at USM next fall to be an elementary school teacher.
Superintendent Perry reported on the impact the substitute shortage is having on teachers and students. Teachers are having to use their planning time to fill in for absent colleagues and to deal with the extra work required to prepare lessons for students quarantined at home. Amanda Cooper, a GMS math teacher, spoke about the stress this is putting on teachers. Perry asked the School Committee to authorize two extra early release days next month, December 1 and 15th, and to consider extending this into January.
After discussion, the SC voted (5-2, Gagnon, McCallister) to authorize the December dates and to continue discussing further action at the November 23 workshop. Gagnon voted no because he did not think the relief was necessary; McCallister wanted to extend it into January.
Perry presented COVID data for October. There were 253 student and 13 staff member incidents of people sent home with symptoms, quarantined, reporting symptoms, or testing positive for COVID in grades 6-12. For the same period, there were 702 K-5 students and 20 staff incidents. In all cases, this does not represent the number of individuals, but the number of incidents as people can be counted in more than one category.
In other business, the School Committee tabled consideration of the Public Participation at School Committee Meetings and voted (7-0) to approve hiring personnel for winter coaching positions.