LEWISTON — A search committee will recommend finalists for the job of Lewiston school superintendent Monday night.

Committee representatives will give the names to the Lewiston School Committee in executive session, said committee member James Handy, who is also a member of the Lewiston School Committee. The committee will then decide who to hire to replace Leon Levesque, who is retiring in December.

State law prevents the committee from publicly releasing the names of finalists, Handy said Friday. But the meeting means that the choice of Lewiston’s next superintendent is drawing near.

According to a Sept. 22 story by the Ellsworth American, one of the finalists is Bill Webster, superintendent of Regional School Unit 24. RSU 24 includes Ellsworth and several nearby coastal towns in Hancock County near Bar Harbor.

Webster told the Ellsworth American it was “premature to talk about it,” and he hadn’t yet received an offer. Webster said in the story it was his understanding there are two finalists, that he is happy where he is, “but I find Lewiston a fascinating district. It has Maine’s highest percentage of minority students. This is, perhaps, the next step for me professionally.”

The plan is to have a new superintendent on board as Levesque leaves, Handy said.

The search committee wants a superintendent who understands school finance, is a good communicator and wants to get to know the people of Lewiston, Handy said.

Search committee member Mark Jumper said he wants the next superintendent to be “superman. . . . the work is daunting.” Jumper is the father of six, three who attend Lewiston schools.

He wants Levesque’s replacement to be able to maintain “the excellence going on in Lewiston public schools, and to take Lewiston to the next step.”

Search committee member Joan Macri said she hopes the new superintendent “will be someone as talented and dedicated as Leon Levesque. Those are big shoes to fill. I’m looking for somebody who has the fiscal skills, management skills and the passion for helping children and students that we’ve had with Leon.”

The search committee began working in February. “The committee truly looks like Lewiston, people with diverse backgrounds, people from different stations in life,” Handy said. Each member of the large committee “brought something to the table. The vast majority participated from Day One.”

Search committee co-chairs are Lewiston School Committee member Thomas Shannon and University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn College Dean Joyce Gibson.

Members include Handy, Macri and Jumper; student Hanan Ahmed; businessman Richard Albert; Lewiston Chief of Police and parent Mike Bussiere; former Lewiston City Finance Department Director Dick Metivier; parent ZamZam Mohamud; Lewiston School Committee members Leah Poulin, Sonia Taylor and Paul Dumont.

Also, elementary teacher Steve Gagne; Lewiston City Councilor John Butler; Maine Assistant Attorney General Paul Gauvreau; businessman and education leader Peter Geiger; Rep. Richard Wagner, D-Lewiston; retired high school teacher Crystal Ward; and Lewiston High Principal Gus LeBlanc.

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