Lewiston City Council voting on School Budget – Tuesday May 5th
Key Dates
- Tuesday, May 5th at 7pm: Lewiston City Council Budget Workshop @ Lewiston City Hall
- Tuesday, May 12th – 7am to 8pm: School Budget Referendum Vote @ Longley Building
Actions You Can Take
- Speak during public comment at the city budget workshop (date above)
- Call or email your city councilors (or send public comment to: publiccomments@lewistonmaine.gov)
- Read up on the city budget @ budgetdata.net
- Encourage your friends and neighbors to make a plan to vote on the school budget
- You can vote in-person at City Hall Wednesday May 6th and Thursday May 7th – 7:45am-4pm
- Or vote Tuesday May 12th at the Longley Building – 145 Birch St from 7am to 8pm
- For more info: https://www.lewistonmaine.gov/117/Elections
School Budgets
The School Budget is the only budget that citizens directly vote on. The School Committee approved the school budget on April 27th. The next step in the process is the City Council must vote to approve the school budget and send it to referendum to validate the vote. The referendum vote will be on May 12th.
What was cut from the School Budget?
Due to local taxpayer concerns about not being able to support rising tax burden, combined with rising fixed costs facing the schools this year which included electricity, workmans comp insurance, transportation, special education, contractual cost of living salary increases, and more, the School Committee made difficult decisions to cut 26 positions from our schools. While some are administrator roles, many others are working directly with students and teachers in classrooms, including: Ed Techs, Duty Aids, Special Ed Resource Room Teachers, Technology Coaches, and Social-Emotional Learning Coaches. The budget also uses half of LPS’s remaining fund balance. This resulted in a School Budget unanimously approved by the School Committee on 4/27 representing an 8.06% increase over last year’s local funding request for schools.
Committee Member Perspective on Budget Cuts
Costs are up everywhere, and this budget reflects that. Due to taxpayer concerns and rising fixed costs facing the schools including electricity, insurance, transportation, special education, contractual cost of living salary increases and more, the School Committee made the extremely difficult decisions to cut 26 positions—while some were administrators, most of them are roles working directly with students and teachers. We also used half of the district’s remaining fund balance. This budget reduces the initial increase in local funding request over last year from 12.39% down to 8.06%.
But here’s why this budget deserves your YES vote:Our schools are making real progress. Lewiston is one of the few districts in the state with growing enrollment, which means economic opportunity as well as responsibility. We’ve seen gains in academic achievement, school culture, and attendance since the pandemic—because we’ve invested in the people who make a difference.This budget keeps roles initially slated for cuts, including:* Librarians at our high school and middle school who boost literacy and research skills, especially for our most vulnerable students.* Dean and Family Engagement staff who keep classrooms safe and call families when elementary students miss three or more days, connecting them to resources so kids can return and succeed.* General Education Social Workers—licensed clinicians who support any child, regardless of insurance or disability, addressing clinical issues such as abuse, neglect, and mental health. These roles are not excessive. For example: Our high school has just one Gen Ed Social Worker for 1,500 students. In a community impacted by youth gun violence, I hope voters will see these Social Workers as investments in school and community safety.This budget protects these roles responsibly—thanks to community advocacy and one-time state funding in this supplemental budget. While the state currently contributes close to 70% of the total cost Lewiston’s school budget, looking ahead, there is more help. The state just updated its school funding formula for the first time in decades, significantly increasing funding for economically disadvantaged students, which will bring more revenue to Lewiston next year.One final note for the public, a reminder that while the total local tax burden is comprised of city, county, and school budgets, of these, only the fate of the school budget is decided in a referendum vote.
Where can I learn more?
The full agenda packet for the City Council meeting is here. You may view the school department’s budget website here, or explore the data using an interactive tool at BudgetData.net (not an official school or city tool).