LEWISTON – More than 50 special education teachers may not get the books and supplies they want for fall.

The materials don’t help pupils meet state and federal standards, officials said. And right now, that’s the priority.

“We are very restricted in the amount of money in the budget,” said Special Education Director Melvin Curtis.

The school system’s 56 special education employees received a polite one-page letter from Curtis telling them that some or none of their materials had been ordered during the summer. With a limited budget, the system’s Curriculum Office had advised him to buy only items that directly helped students achieve federal, state and local standards.

If students don’t meet those standards by doing well on state tests, the school system faces sanctions.

Last year, three of Lewiston’s nine schools landed on a warning list for poor performance.

This summer, all 56 special education teachers had something cut from their requests, Curtis said. Some lost classroom supplies, others textbooks or audiovisual aids.

Cathy Tetenman, a longtime speech pathologist at Longley Elementary School, asked for $71.80 to buy one book and four special card decks that teach language and memory skills. Two card decks – one that helped improve memory and one that taught students the proper use of “I” and “me” – were declined.

The decks cost $10.95 each.

Tetenman said she understands that Lewiston is strapped for cash and has to prioritize spending.

“I know he (Curtis) would give us everything we wanted if he could,” she said.

But she’s frustrated that officials are buying materials that help students perform better on tests, not materials teachers say are necessary.

Rob Walker, a former Lewiston teacher and president of the state’s largest teachers’ union, knows no other school system that has denied purchases because they didn’t help kids meet No Child Left Behind or the Maine Learning Results standards.

Lewiston’s practice worries him.

He realizes, he said, that schools are under pressure to get pupils to pass the test, to meet standards.

Still, he said, “You can’t ignore the rest of the child.”

Lewiston has about $10,000 budgeted for special education equipment and materials, according to Curtis.

Teachers have a second chance to get their materials as long as they can show the supplies are required for a specific student or do directly support standards, Curtis said. Those materials could be bought with a $1 million federal grant that pays for staff, teacher training, transportation and other special education needs.

Ten to 15 teachers have argued for their supplies, Curtis said.

But Tetenman hasn’t bothered. She has an easier way.

“I’ll buy them myself,” she said.