I am a senior at Lewiston High School. Recently I attended a meeting of Lewiston-Auburn school officials. The article in the newspaper about that meeting didn’t mention the tension in the room (May 9). The student population asked some very specific and unexpected questions that the local officials had a hard time dealing with.

Auburn Councilor Joshua Shea should be ashamed of the way that he addressed some of the students. He was testy in his responses and  became angry at a high school senior.

The students did not ask to have this sit-in conversation period; in fact, it was just the opposite. City officials came to us and asked our opinions on how we felt about our community and what changes we would make. Officials who did not like what they heard, such as Shea, couldn’t deal with the situation.

The newspaper article didn’t mention the high level of thinking that students put into the session and how much they, as seniors, care about the community.

Lewiston is heading in a good direction. That can be agreed upon, but it is the direction of the officials in charge of where Lewiston is headed.

With the exception of Auburn Mayor Jonathan LaBonte, it seems that Auburn officials are more concerned about being able to say they “heard” from a group of students than saying they are actually weighing the opinions of and “listened to” what we had to say.

Shawn Ricker, Lewiston