All Gorham students would be severely impacted by the $2M reduction in the FY24 school budget passed by the Town Council on July 11. This reduction is in addition to the $909,000 reduction to the one defeated by voters in June that the School Committee had already proposed.

In a meeting following the decision, the School Committee reluctantly made cuts that included twelve existing staff losing their jobs, elimination of virtually all extracurricular athletics and performing arts at Gorham High School and Gorham Middle School, and increased class sizes in the three elementary schools. After making the mandatory reduction, none of the SC members supported the $48,232,480 budget that will go to the voters on July 25. They will meet this week to consider a resolution opposing the budget approved by the Town Council.

In June, 10% of Gorham voters went to the polls and defeated a $51,494,845 budget approved by the Town Council in May, which already included a $800,000 reduction from the one submitted by the School Committee earlier. The School Committee then submitted a revised budget totaling $50,585,845. The nearly $1M in reductions were from correcting a $849,000 error found in calculations of teacher salaries and from negotiating an electricity contract.

At the Town Council meeting, Hollis Cobb, the school department business manager, apologized for making the calculation error “which involved entering the FY25 teacher salary scale into the proposed FY24 budget.” It was a human error of data entry. She gave assurances that “this would not have resulted in overpaying of staff as budgeting and payroll processes are independent of each other.” Staff changes and implementing new financial software had affected office focus, but Cobb took full responsibility for the error.

In a scathing personal response, Councilor Phillip Gagnon refused to accept Cobb’s apology. He delivered a harsh reprimand to both the School Department and the School Committee before the Town Council opened the discussion. Five voting Town Council members considered the question; Pratt was recused because his wife is a school employee and Seigel was ill with Covid. Councilor Virginia Wilder Cross said that “a reduction by an error amount is not a proposed reduction.” She and the other councilors promptly argued for greater reduction, in part because they believed they would be asked for more next year and that this growth would not be sustainable. They voted unanimously to further reduce the budget by $2M. If approved by the voters, the $48, 232,420 FY24 budget will reduce the increase on the mil rate from $.99 to $.30.

“This budget will have a devastating impact on our ability to serve the children of our community,” Superintendent Heather Perry said after the School Committee meeting. Of the nineteen staff positions that would be eliminated, one is Assistant Superintendent, a position held by Brian Porter, a long-time district employee and principal of Village Elementary School before his promotion to central administration. Other eliminated positions include ed techs and administrative support, plus coaches and advisors for all clubs and after-school extra and co-curricular programs. Gorham High School athletics would go to “Pay to Play” only, removing equitable access to all students to participate in athletic programs. There would be no late bus. The Mandarin language program at GHS would be eliminated, as well a technology teacher and health teacher. Five elementary classroom teachers would go, moving all K-5 classrooms to maximum size. A complete list of reductions totaling $2M can be found by……