Gorham’s new school superintendent has settled in and appeared confident, as a new academic year begins next Monday.
“We’re going to be ready for opening day,” Heather Perry said last week in her office in Gorham Municipal Center.
Perry, 41, has succeeded Ted Sharp, who retired in June after 11 years as the Gorham superintendent.
“He left me in excellent shape,” Perry said, adding that Sharp left a “great leadership team.”
School Committee Chairman Dennis Libby said Wednesday that Perry has been learning and listening in meetings with “lots of folks” in Gorham.
“I think Heather has done a great job of working on her transition plan,” Libby said. “Her first major focus is to get to know our district, community and what makes Gorham what it is.”
Perry, who previously was superintendent at Regional School Unit 3 in Unity, began her duties on July 6 in Gorham.
“So far she is doing a great job getting ready for the start of school,” School Committee member Suzanne Phillips said Tuesday. “She jumped right in with both feet and is handling lots of things at the moment.”
With classes just days away, the School Committee was scheduled to hold a special meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 26, after the American Journal deadline.
“She put out an agenda and it is packed with topics,” Phillips said.
Perry previously acquainted herself with the town’s schools.
“I visited all schools in the spring,” Perry said.
She toured Gorham’s five schools with Norm Justice, district facilities director. Perry said she saw the “underbellies” of the schools, including maintenance rooms and heat pumps.
She saw first hand challenges and needs of the buildings.
According to Gorham School Department information, the high school was built in 1959 and renovated in 1994; Village School, built in 1963, was renovated in 1988; Narragansett School was built in 1981; Great Falls School was built in 2011; and Gorham Middle School was built in 2003.
Repairs and improvements at aging schools are facing Perry and the School Committee. A school bond referendum already approved for November and capital budget planning were agenda topics in Wednesday’s meeting.
A major challenge looming for Gorham school officials is updating Gorham High School, where a space crunch has long been identified. Perry pointed out the high school was built for 750 students but now has an enrollment of 850.
In past years, some high school students have been left sitting on hallway floors to eat lunch. Perry said high school cafeteria space has been recently redesigned with new seats and lighting, maximizing space for students. She said a next phase could be a cafeteria addition.
The high school campus is landlocked and tight parking has been an issue. But, Perry said, there is nothing on the near horizon about expanding high school parking.
The school district hopes Gorham voters in November will support a $1.2 million referendum question to upgrade classroom door locks and mechanical projects. Perry said the funds would also be utilized to repair roofs at the high school and Village Elementary School.
The Gorham School Department in recent years had developed architectural plans that would have sought a referendum to renovate and expand Gorham High School. The cost could have run $11 million or more.
But, the School Committee shelved high school plans in apparent deference to a town referendum that passed in November 2014, authorizing a Public Safety Building makeover and new police station.
School needs, however, linger.
“Capital planning is a big discussion that needs to continue,” Perry said.
Perry has met with key town officials and has spent a day with her principals and administrators in a “leadership retreat” discussing goals. A discussion of School Committee goals for the upcoming academic year was also planned for Wednesday’s meeting.
“I have met with Heather over the summer and we discussed several things about our district, the pluses and some minuses,” Phillips said.
Perry is implementing a new teacher and principal evaluation system that she said already had been three years in the making.
Perry also has met with Lt. Christopher Sanborn of Gorham Police Department. In the past, police and school officials have conducted joint security drills at schools.
“Safety is one of our top priorities,” Perry said, and added that training would continue.
The school resource officers, she said, would be Officer Wayne Drown at the high and middle schools, while Officer Mike Coffin, who has been assigned to a drug enforcement agency, would be resource officer at the elementary schools.
She also has reached out to the University of Southern Maine, where Gorham students can take courses, she said. She added that university students majoring in education will continue to serve as student teachers in Gorham schools. Perry has met with the university’s athletic director, Al Bean, and new university president, Glenn Cummings.
Perry hopes to enhance ties with the university by thinking of new ways to collaborate.
“Glenn is optimistic about the future for USM,” Perry said.
By last week, she said, she had completed 82 interviews with individuals, including Town Manager David Cole, town department heads and several town councilors. She has a goal of reaching 120 interviews by the end of September.
To gain a sense of the school system, Perry plans to spend “focus time” with students.
“Students will tell me exactly what they think,” she said. “I love interacting with students.”
A sports enthusiast, Perry will attend fall games, supporting football, soccer and field hockey teams.
“I love to be active,” she said.
She and her husband live in Shirley, which is near Greenville. She has an apartment in Gorham but drives home for weekends.
The traveling is not a long-term plan and she said her husband would change jobs so they can reside locally. They have a daughter, 19, who is a student at University of Maine in Augusta.
Perry has shopped in Hannaford and stopped for coffee at The Gorham Grind and Mister Bagel. She’s dined in every restaurant in Gorham and has heard feedback from taxpayers.
“People want you to be frugal with their money,” she said.
Sharp, who is now the head of school at the Beijing City International School in China, finished his duties in Gorham at the end of June.
“The only thing we really had to do unexpectedly this summer was hire an extra kindergarten teacher due to increased enrollment in kindergarten, which happens from time to time,” Phillips said.
Heather Perry, Gorham’s new school superintendent, is at her desk last week, but she plans to be visible in the schools and at athletic events.Staff photo by Robert Lowell
Gorham High School was built in 1959 and renovated in 1994. A major challenge is updating the school, where a space crunch has long been identified. File photo
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