The Gorham School Department April 1 received a Town Council nod to push ahead with enlarging the high school cafeteria and adding a half dozen modular classrooms.

The council voted 6-0, with Chairperson Suzanne Phillips absent, to authorize school officials to borrow up to the $9.5 million that Gorham voters approved in November. The funds were earmarked for improvements at the high school and an HVAC upgrade at Narragansett Elementary. The estimated cost, with interest, is $12.7 million.

Gorham has asked the Maine Department of Education for a new high school and a new elementary school that would consolidate Narragansett and Village elementary schools. State officials came to town in early March to visit the buildings.

Results as to whether the state would grant Gorham approval for new buildings are not expected until July.

“Even if we are awarded the state project, it will be six to eight years before we see it come to fruition,” Superintendent Heather Perry said Wednesday, in an email response to Westbrook-Gorham Now.   “The cafeteria expansion component would be in its infancy at the time we learn about the state approval or lack thereof.  At that time the School Committee can decide to basically abandon further work or move forward with either or both components of the approved project, understanding that the state timeline will still take several years.”  

School Committee Chairperson Sarah Perkins told the Town Council April 1 that her board voted March 26 to move forward with the high school projects.

“There are two key parts of this project that will be starting later this spring – one is to begin the addition to the Gorham High School cafeteria, ” Perkins reported. “After that, ground work will begin on the modular expansion.”

The high school projects are expected to be ready for occupancy in the fall of 2026, according to Perkins.

The high school opened in 1959 and was renovated in 1994 to handle 750 students. The current enrollment is more than 800.