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All 40 Findings — Gorham FY27 School Budget

Every documented finding in the Gorham, Maine FY27 school budget, sourced to public budget books, the May 12, 2026 Town Council adoption order (Order #26-52), the published Q&A, and Maine Department of Education data.

  1. #1 — Tax Rate Column Headers Mislabeled By One Year (critical)
  2. #2 — $109.3 Million Tax Base Increase Not Disclosed (critical)
  3. #3 — Three Valid Tax Baselines — Brochure Uses the Lowest One (critical)
  4. #4 — $1.21 Million of the Tax Increase Is Disappearing Revenue, Not New Spending (critical)
  5. #5 — "62% State Subsidized" — Two Layers of Misleading (critical)
  6. #6 — Gorham High School Enrollment Overstated by 11 Students in the Brochure (high)
  7. #7 — K-5 Enrollment Discrepancy — 9-Student Gap Between District Documents (high)
  8. #8 — Gorham Middle School Is Last in Cumberland County for Student:Teacher Ratio (23.8:1) (high)
  9. #9 — Capital Planning Gap: $194.7M Need, Only $855K Funded in FY27 (critical)
  10. #10 — SpEd Driver Wages Cut 69% — $110K Reduction With Zero Explanation (high)
  11. #11 — Facilities & Transportation Split — Line Item Explained, Total Cost Expansion Not Disclosed (elevated)
  12. #12 — Gorham High School Counselor Wages Slashed 31% and 26% — Combined $85,442 Cut (critical)
  13. #13 — Gorham High School Two-Year Staffing Plan Conceals ~$190K in FY28 Costs (elevated)
  14. #14 — Gifted & Talented Budget Restructured — Dedicated G&T Wages Zeroed Out (elevated)
  15. #15 — MagicSchool AI — $17,000/Year Not Mentioned in the Brochure (elevated)
  16. #16 — "Additional Local" Revenue Is a Balancing Line, Not a Real Category (elevated)
  17. #17 — NeuroRestorative Revenue Cliff: $254K Narragansett Modular Reimbursement Has No Connection to NR (critical)
  18. #18 — Security Services Contract — Competitive Bidding and Terms Not Disclosed (elevated)
  19. #19 — SpEd Contracted Services +$343,880 (+52%) — Largest Single Increase in the Budget (critical)
  20. #20 — Pre-K Free Appropriate Public Education True Cost: ~$370,140 Buried Across 10 Line Items (high)
  21. #21 — Gorham Middle School Free/Reduced Lunch Doubled — 8.8% to 20.73% With No Resource Plan (high)
  22. #22 — Adult Ed MDOL Grant Ends September 2026 — No Contingency Plan (high)
  23. #23 — School Nutrition Director + Admin Lines Appear From Zero — $163K+ New Cost (elevated)
  24. #24 — Technology Contracted Services Cut 74% ($107K → $28K) While Subscriptions Rise (elevated)
  25. #25 — OT & Speech: Budget Says 'Adding' 1.0 full-time equivalent — But Line Items Show Massive Cuts (high)
  26. #26 — Gorham High School Textbooks Zeroed Out ($17,275 → $0) as Enrollment Grows (elevated)
  27. #27 — Facilities Contracted Services: Identical $15K Increase at Every Single School (high)
  28. #28 — District-Wide Admin Support Benefits +41% — Growing Faster Than Classrooms (elevated)
  29. #29 — $156.9M of $194.7M Capital Plan Crammed Into FY31 — 81% Deferred to the Last Year (critical)
  30. #30 — Enrollment Declining Statewide and Locally — But $150M in School Expansion Planned (critical)
  31. #31 — Test Scores Collapsed to 30-Year Lows While Budget Rose 47% — State Test Masks the Decline (critical)
  32. #32 — FY26 HR Position Sat Unfilled 9+ Months — Now Relaunched as 'Employment Services Specialist' 6 Days After School Committee Vote (critical)
  33. #33 — Brochure Showed 10.87 Mills / +$532 — School Committee Approved 10.34 Mills / +$338 — Public Document Never Corrected (critical)
  34. #34 — Mill Rate Conflict — Q&A Says FY26 Actual Was 9.54; April 28 Slides Say 9.49 (critical)
  35. #35 — Program Extensions: Superintendent Proposed $961,000 → School Committee Approved $902,000 (high)
  36. #36 — $2,521,875 in Reductions — What the District Leadership Team and School Committee Cut From Original FY27 Requests (elevated)
  37. #37 — 10-Year Mill Rate History Promised in Q55 — Image Provided But Not Transcribed in Public Q&A (elevated)
  38. #38 — Gorham School Department Fact Sheet #1 — Per-Pupil Cost Comparison Uses FY26 Data to Defend FY27 Budget (elevated)
  39. #39 — Official Pre-Referendum Fact Sheet Uses State Test Scores to Claim 'Solid ROI' — Omits Federal Data Showing 30-Year Lows (critical)
  40. #40 — Town Council Adoption Order Admits $13.9M of School Budget Exceeds State's Essential Spending Model (critical)