LEWISTON – In recent years the Lewiston School Department has tried program after program to keep kids from dropping out of school.

Still, “we’re losing a lot of kids,” Lewiston school Superintendent Leon Levesque told the School Committee on Monday night.

“This is indeed an epidemic,” said Vicky Wiegman, a substance abuse counselor at Lewiston High School who also serves on a dropout committee. The problem needs “a public health approach.”

The numbers for last year won’t be out until next month, but in 2005-06, 122 students dropped out of school in Lewiston, according to a report given to the School Committee.

Lewiston’s dropout rate wasn’t available in the report. In the Maine Dropout Prevention Guide by the University of Maine, it shows Lewiston’s dropout rate was 8.05 percent in 2004-2005.

That was significantly higher than the state average of 2.78 percent, but similar to Portland’s two high schools of 8.29 percent (Portland High) and 7.15 percent (Deering High).

Starting her 21st year as a substance abuse counselor, Wiegman said she knows some will drop out “and live a life of poverty. I really feel close to powerless to do a whole lot about it.”

Reasons why kids leave school are many, she said. One is that kids struggling have little support at home and school. After one drops out sometimes it’s as if they were invisible in school and weren’t known by high school educators. “They just fade away,” Wiegman said.

Sue Martin, director of the school department’s special projects, said those most at risk “are the most transient kids.”

With a discouraged tone in his voice, Levesque said the dropout problem “is bigger than the school system. We can’t do it alone.” He pointed to two pages in the report outlining 12 programs started in recent years to keep kids in school.

A lot of energy is being spent. There’s some success, Levesque said, “but the return is not high.”

One big problem is that Lewiston has many families who are dysfunctional and/or transient. “They’re here for a while. They come with their issues” but their problems aren’t solved in the short time they stay, Levesque said. Many students who drop out “are on their own. … They have little adult guidance.”

Some live without a home by “couch surfing.” Some do make it and graduate. “Others do not.”

Martin cautioned there are flaws in how the dropout numbers are counted. For instance, the number of students leaving the eighth grade are compared with the number of graduates four years later. Students who take five years to get their diploma are counted as dropouts even if they’re still in school, Martin said.

But, she and others acknowledged Lewiston is losing too many.

She and Wiegman’s report recommended a 10-point plan outlined in The Silent Epidemic endorsed by the National Governors Association and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Those 10 points include creating early warning systems, providing adult advocates to help students, enlisting parental support to help craft individual graduation plans for students, and establishing rigorous college and work preparatory curriculum before graduation.

Lewiston is already doing much of that, but the school department “needs to work smarter” and more together, Martin said.

Martin and Wiegman also recommended that poor attendance, academic failure and continuous behavioral problems in students are identified as early as possible and tracked.

More help needs to come from the community, from parents and employers who hire students, said committee Chairman Jim Handy. “We all have a role to play. We need a multi-facet approach. It does take a village.”

And, Handy said, it’s not acceptable to hear there are students unknown to any adult at the high school.

Montello monitoring

In other business the committee was told that the Maine Department of Education has identified Montello School as a school that needs monitoring, due to low math scores.

Because the school did not meet state math target scores on the Maine Educational Assessment for two consecutive years, Montello has been identified as a “continuous improvement priority school.”

The problem is a subgroup of immigrant students who are not proficient in English, said George Veilleux, assistant director of curriculum. Despite their language barrier, they are required to take the tests.

Parents have been sent a letter, and the school is working to make improvements, Montello Principal Deborah Goding said.

MEA scores for Lewiston schools, along with information on whether each school is making adequate annual progress, will be released next week, Levesque said.