Ward 2 — Geiger, Montello and McMahon schools area

Paul St. Pierre

Age: 61

Address: 12 Ventura St.

Occupation: Retired, IT/network administrator

Education: Degree in computer information systems at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College.

Political experience: 14 years on the Lewiston School Committee

What is the biggest problem you perceive in Lewiston schools, and how will you work to correct it?

Maintaining a strong, well educated and well compensated work force. I will continue to support a strong focus on the issue.

What do you think is going right in Lewiston schools, something you want to support?

Alternative education at the high school level, adult education, ongoing infrastructure maintenance and upgrades, these are just a few. The list is quite long.

Lewiston’s student population of Somali immigrant students continues to climb. Do you approve of how they’re being taught, where they’re going to school, how their needs are being met?

The Somali school population is no different than the rest of the entire student body. The School Committee works diligently to provide the children of Lewiston with all the tools they need to be successful.

When the next proposed Lewiston school budget comes out, would you favor flat-funding, a higher budget, or passing a lower budget?

Working on the budget every year is a tremendous balancing act between needs and affordability.

Superintendent Bill Webster has released projections showing Lewiston’s enrollment will continue to grow at 100 students a year. He’s recommending turning the Lewiston Multi-Purpose Center into a prekindergarten school for the city, expanding the middle school and McMahon. Lewiston senior citizens do not want to give up their space at the Multi-Purpose Center. Do you approve, or disapprove, of this plan?

The Multi-Purpose (Center) is far from being an ideal school building. Many improvements have been put into the building to make it as compatible as possible to an educational environment. At this time we still need a school in the downtown area. As a member of the infrastructure committee representing the School Committee, we are continually looking for ways to improve the effectiveness of educational delivery within our structures. Several ideas are being discussed with regards to the Longley school in the Multi-Purpose building. I neither approve or disapprove of the current request to the city to review the situation with the Multi-Purpose building. If in time, using this building is our only current resolution to a downtown school building, then I will support the plan to utilize the entire facility.