LEWISTON – Reviewing numbers of the city’s property valuation and student population, Lewiston School Superintendent Leon Levesque said he’s hoping to meet students’ needs without raising property taxes.
Lewiston should again get more state education money because the city’s valuation is below the state average, while student population is up slightly, Levesque told a joint meeting of the Lewiston and Auburn school committees Wednesday night.
The higher the student population and lower the valuation, the better off a community is when it comes to state funding. A community’s valuation represents how rich or poor it is, and how able it is to pay to educate students.
“My goal is to come in with a budget that does not impact city taxes and still meets our needs,” Levesque said. He’s planning to unveil the Lewiston school budget on Feb. 1. It will be higher than last year’s $38.4 million budget. “We have some unmet needs,” Levesque said.
Last year Lewiston received $3.4 million in additional state aid, of which $1 million was spent on property tax relief. Levesque is again expecting more money from the state.
Auburn, however, won’t fare as well, projected Superintendent Barbara Eretzian.
In Auburn student population is down. Property valuation is up.
“The anticipation is less funding,” Eretzian said.
The increase in state money for education Auburn saw last year, more than $1 million, “will not materialize,” she said.
Last year Eretzian heard many ask why Lewiston received so much more from the state than Auburn. When it comes to state education money, Auburn is at a disadvantage, she said.
“It’s not anything that Auburn or Lewiston are doing. It’s the make-up of the communities.”
Both superintendents said they have not yet received state numbers on how much each city will receive. That may not happen until late February, Levesque said.
Levesque also reported that the number of students with limited English speaking skills continues to climb in Lewiston.
Auburn also is experiencing more students who need help learning English: 118 this year compared to 97 last year.
Lewiston now has 466 students who qualify for the English Language Learners program, formerly called English as a Second language. That’s up from 402 from just a few months ago.
The bulk – 364 – are Somali students.
Some are arriving in Lewiston as teenagers without ever having gone to school, making it challenging to place them. They first started appearing last spring, then again in the winter, Levesque said. “There’s been a steady flow.”
It’s difficult to place a 13- or 14-year-old student who has never been schooled, he said. It makes it impossible for them “to catch up” and receive their high school diploma with their peers. Because of that, many continue their education through Lewiston’s Adult Education program, Levesque said.
Diversity will continue to grow in Lewiston schools, Levesque projected, adding that his schools are teaching English to students who speak 16 different languages at home, including Chinese and Arabic.
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