High school is all about peer pressure, and Lewiston isn’t immune.

The city’s school district is one of the few, if any, in Maine that does not provide busing for high school students. A new proposal, to be discussed publicly April 9, would create bus routes for Lewiston high schoolers, likely as part of a comprehensive retooling of the district’s transportation procedures.

Superintendent Leon Levesque says busing high schoolers could impact the starting and ending times of school days. “It’s complex,” he said. “A lot of different things have to fall into place.”

Busing to LHS is a good idea, beyond the argument “everybody’s doing it.” Buses are the safest form of school transport, says Levesque, and the district’s lack of high school service has been a frequent gripe.

A primary reason Lewiston hasn’t offered busing is because it never has had it, or been made to have it. School Administrative Districts in Maine are mandated to provide busing, but city districts like Lewiston – as “urban centers” – are exempted from the requirement.

But just because busing isn’t forced, doesn’t mean Lewiston shouldn’t do it. The district’s willingness to investigate a program is smart, since the city has changed, and its school policies should change with it.

Without busing, the cost of transportation is placed back onto the students and families of LHS. It’s an inconvenience, at best, or an impossibility at worst, as the ability of parents to provide rides to schools, or fund transportation alternatives, has undoubtedly decreased over the years.

Levesque believes routes can be crafted without major expense to the taxpayers, with additional funding likely only needed for fuel. Hudson Bus, the private company that transports Lewiston students, has a $1.4 million contract with the district for its services.

If administrators can sketch a plan that adds an important service like high school busing, without increasing the cost, it should be given every consideration. Levesque is hopeful, but still calls the busing plan a “concept.”

We call it a fine notion, whose time has come. If the superintendent’s quick estimation of $20,000 for the new bus routes is accurate, the program would be a bargain.

And, after all, this is about high school. Like, everybody else is busing.

Lewiston shouldn’t be left out.