By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

POLAND – The School Committee chairman has been charged with passing a stopped school bus at the very school he represents.

Police say Ira “Ike” Levine was dropping off his children at Poland Regional High School June 6 when he passed a school bus in the parking lot.

The bus was dropping off students.

If convicted, Levine faces a minimum $250 fine, a 30-day license suspension and up to six months in jail.

He has requested a jury trial, a common move, according to the Androscoggin County district attorney’s office.

Levine is an outspoken chairman for both the Poland School Committee and the Poland Regional High School Committee. Between them, the two committees oversee the Poland Community School, Bruce M. Whittier Middle School and Poland Regional High School.

Levine declined to comment on the incident.

“This has nothing to do with school or the school board,” he said. “It’s a private matter.”

The lawyer representing Levine is Jack Conway. He is also a member of the Poland school committees.

Drivers often pass stopped school buses at the high school and at other Union 29 schools in Poland, Minot and Mechanic Falls, school transportation officials say.

Bus drivers record license plates and forward them to the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department for investigation.

Levine has never been convicted of passing a stopped school bus, according to the secretary of state’s office.

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