At a special meeting on May 14, the Gorham Town Council voted (6-0, Pratt recused) to approve the Gorham School District budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year. For the first time in nine years, the Council passed a budget as proposed by the School Committee with out modification. The $53,111,427 budget will be on the June 11 ballot for referendum by Gorham voters.

Before the Town Council voted, counsellors expressed support for the budget and the process. Virginia Wilder-Cross thanked the School Committee as did Robert Lavoie, who said that he had followed the time-line and process on the SC website. Lou Simms supported the budget although he was concerned about rising costs for both the school district and the town, which he hopes will be addressed by the new Fiscal Sustainability Committee. Seven Siegel thanked the SC for their good budget explanation at the joint workshop. Phillip Gagnon particularly thanked SC member Michelle Littlefield for the data she presented at the workshop. Although TC Chair Suzanne Phillips supported the budget, she said that she was not happy with the increase and that such increases would not be sustainable over time.

In a resolution adopted after the TC approved the budget, the School Committee voted 7-0 to express strong support for the budget.

The resolution recognized “the dedication, engagement, and collaboration with the Gorham Town Council,” and pledged that the SC “will continue active participation in the Financial Sustainability Committee.” It stated that the SC “continues to operate with fiscal restraint, even in changing times, and maintains one of the lowest per pupil expenditures of any other school district in Cumberland County.”

The resolution concluded with the School Committee urging voters of Gorham to vote in support of the budget on June 11 “so that Gorham Schools can continue to provide high-quality educational services to our community’s most precious recourse – our children.”

The complete text of the School Committee resolution is available on the Gorham School Department website and Facebook page.