AUBURN – A yet-to-be-named panel of three parents, two teachers, two school committee members and one administrator will be formed to recommend whether Auburn’s half-day Wednesdays for elementary students should stay or go.

The panel will present its recommendation to the full Auburn School Committee by Nov. 2. The committee will decide on the policy Nov. 28, interim Superintendent Tom Morrill told the committee Wednesday night.

The decision to take a look at the unpopular-with-parents policy happened after some questioned why Auburn releases K-6 students every Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. for teacher development. The practice is something that few if any other Maine schools, including Lewiston, do. Auburn has the same number of teacher workshop days as Lewiston and other schools that don’t have weekly early dismissal for staff development.

On Sept. 5, Auburn School Department employee Elaine Dow, who oversees instruction, told the committee that half-day Wednesdays allow teachers valuable time for staff development. That, Dow said, improves learning and student test scores.

But parents who heard Dow’s presentation didn’t seem to buy it. Parents complained that Wednesdays are a wasted day for students, they’re losing too much class time and it’s a hardship on working parents.

One specific question the committee will explore is what do teachers do on Wednesday afternoons, and could those activities take place at another time?

Since many parents have strong feelings against the half-day and many Auburn educators have strong feelings for it, there’ll be an effort not to stack the panel with members either way, School Committee Chairman David Das said.

None of the panelists have been named. Letters will be sent home with students asking for three parents to serve, Morrill said. Those interested may e-mail Morrill at [email protected], and [email protected].

In other business, police Chief Phil Crowell gave a report on traffic and speeding in front of the Auburn Middle School. Police are doing more speed details near the school to slow drivers and improve safety, Crowell said. On average violators speed 19 miles over the limit, which is 25 mph, except when school is beginning and ending, when the limit is 15 mph.

Principal Kathi Cutler said when she was teaching at the school in 1982, it was unheard of for parents to drop their children off at school. Now so many do that there’s a traffic problem in the morning. Cars and buses struggle to leave the school’s drive and get back on Court Street.

The problem is trying to turn left with oncoming traffic during the morning drive to work. One would hope motorists would be polite and let cars exit, but that often doesn’t happen, she said. “Everybody is trying to get someplace. It creates a back-up” of cars and buses.

Traffic flow is better when police are there, said committee member Susan Gaylord. “When they’re not it’s scary. We’ve really been fortunate nobody’s been injured,” she said.

Auburn police are there 75 percent of the time, but can’t be there every morning, Crowell said.

One solution could be to train a civilian certified in directing traffic. Another is to ask the state for help in creating a raised crosswalk with a speed bump.

The committee took no action on the issue Wednesday night.