AUBURN — One school that was in danger of losing its girls’ hockey program, and another that was struggling to find the numbers to create one have come to an agreement that will allow both to continue — together.

Leavitt Area High School, which iced one of the top teams in the Maine Principals’ Association high school league last season, was in danger of losing its program after losing several seniors to graduation.

Edward Little High School had several girls try out for the boys’ team last season, but there weren’t enough girls to have a team of their own.

Wednesday night, the Auburn School Committee approved a girls’ ice hockey team made up of players from both schools.

The total cost of the Leavitt Little Red Hornets is $19,000, which will be funded half by Leavitt Area High School and half by fundraising by Auburn hockey parents, EL Athletic Director Dan Deshaies said.

The team name borrows from both schools’ logos and names, he told the committee. Edward Little teams are the Red Eddies and Leavitt’s are the Hornets.

Leavitt was about to drop its girls ice hockey team because the number of players had dwindled.

“Graduation hit us pretty hard,” Leavitt Athletic Director Doug Conn said. “We were down to maybe six kids, and we probably wouldn’t have had a program here. The coach had done a good job, working our team up from a club sport to getting it approved as a varsity sport. When (Deshaies) called me and indicated there might be a dozen kids or so, I thought it might be doable. Now that it’s all approved, we’re pretty excited about it.”

Deshaies estimated there will be 12 players from EL next winter and seven or more from Leavitt.

The team will be re-evaluated after two years, Deshaies said. The team has already been approved by the MPA and by school officials at Leavitt.

“The last piece of the puzzle would be getting you to agree to that also,” Deshaies told the Auburn School Committee.

Committee member Lane Feldman asked Superintendent Tom Morrill if the School Department could help with funding. Morrill said he wished it could, but every dollar is marked.

Julie Ann Shaw, who represents peewee and girl hockey players for Auburn Youth Hockey, said girls’ hockey is growing “by leaps and bounds.”

The league will support the new girls team and will help parents with fundraising, Shaw said.

Committee member Tom Kendall asked if a new hockey team would rob players from other sports and diminish those teams.

He was told no, hockey players don’t typically play basketball or other winter sports.

In other business the School Department Business Manager Jude Cyr announced that Bedard Medical Inc. is buying a vacant lot from the city, and will help provide needed parking for Fairview Elementary School on Minot Avenue.

“Bedard is aware of our parking needs,” Cyr said. Bedard “wants to be a good neighbor and help.”

Bedard, which owns Bedard Pharmacy in Lewiston, plans to level the lot that used to house Gooseberry Barn and build several medical buildings on it. Bedard has agreed to allow Fairview school to use its parking spaces, relieving what Cyr called a “dire need” for parking.

As proposed, the development would allow 35 or more new parking spaces adjacent to the school’s parking lot, which is always overcrowded, Cyr said.

Bedard will introduce its development project Thursday night at a Fairview meeting in the gym. “We’re pretty pleased they came forward with this,” Cyr said.

The Auburn School Department still has plans to build more parking at Fairview, but the costs will be less because of help from Bedard, Cyr said.

Morrill reminded committee members that Edward Little High School’s graduation is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston.

Assistant Sports Editor/Online Justin Pelletier contributed to this report.