About two years ago the Gorham School Department worked with the Town of Gorham to conduct a comprehensive facilities assessment. C.H.A. was the firm that completed the study.

Since then, the Gorham School Department has been working to address the needs outlined in this study. The voters recently approved bonds that have updated the HVAC system at GMS and are now working on upgrades to the HVAC systems at GHS. Additionally, they were able to complete the final phase of modular expansions at Narragansett Elementary School that will open up this coming fall.

According to Superintendent Heather Perry, “As we continue to use this report to guide our decision making, we will be bringing forward a request to the Town Council for a bond package that would address the next round of facilities needs in our schools. We hope to present our request to the Town Council in June in preparation for a potential referendum question on the November ballot. This is the first request of what we see as four requests that will need to occur over the next 10 plus years.”

One item of concern on the upcoming list is the tennis courts at GHS. At this time, the school is unable to host matches safely on the courts because they are in such bad condition. The courts have been resurfaced many times over the years, but they are over twenty years old and resurfacing is no longer an option.

In the facilities plan, there is a proposal to move the existing tennis courts from their current location at GHS to a new location at GMS that would offer more accessibility to students and the greater public. This area was previously permitted for this exact move when the GMS was built.

Superintendent Perry continued, “Although this would take up a part of the fields that currently exist, we have worked with Gorham Recreation and others to make sure that all existing activities would still be able to occur on the same site.”

Another big project listed on this first referendum request would be to start on the first phase of modular expansions at GHS. This first phase would add space to the existing cafeteria and build out an additional 7 classrooms over by where the existing modular classrooms are. This would allow Adult Education to move from GMS to add additional classroom capacity at GMS as well. There would be three planned phases of modular expansion at GHS that could be developed as a mid-range solution to our current long-term facilities needs.