LEWISTON — In a unanimous vote Monday night, the School Committee changed the policy on field trips to allow more students to go farther.

The old policy prohibited students in grades K to three from leaving Lewiston-Auburn, and students in grades four and five from going beyond a 50-mile radius of Lewiston.

The new policy strikes the distance limits and simply says field trips must be approved in advance by the superintendent, and out-of-state trips must be approved by the School Committee.

Too many Lewiston students don’t leave Lewiston-Auburn, and would benefit from understanding what opportunities and resources exist, Superintendent Bill Webster said. A science lesson could be reinforced and enhanced by a trip to the ocean. History lessons could be enhanced by students visiting Boston museums. Field trips to City Hall or the State House could help students understand better what they learned in class about how government works.

“This new policy opens up many new doors for field trip possibilities for Lewiston students,” Webster said. “It eliminates the restrictions based on grade levels.” More field trips tied to lessons will give students better opportunities to actively learn by doing and seeing, he said.

What needs to happen now is figuring out where money will come from to pay for more trips, and planning what trips would most benefit students.

“Funding is an issue,” Webster said, adding the private, nonprofit Lewiston Education Fund is considering more support for field trips. “I’ve already had businesses approach me interested in becoming more involved. We need to spend time thoughtfully thinking about how we’re going to apply this expansion,” Webster said. “But I am very excited that we’re opening up doors.”

In other business, School Committee members heard a report on changes to teaching, or core curriculum, where students will be given more lessons that are similar to what is taught in other schools.

Sue Martin, the chief academic officer for Lewiston schools, said that common core standards are being implemented in schools in 45 states, including Maine, and in Lewiston. The goal is to make learning more uniform, and ensure students master what they need to know.

What students learn at the city’s six elementary schools is often different, Martin said. “Lewiston has never really said to teachers, ‘You’re a seventh-grade teacher, this is what kids need to know, this is what you need to teach.'”

The core curriculum will be “teacher led,” with 38 teachers leading training, Martin said. Three of those teachers, Montello’s Hilary Barber, Farwell Elementary’s Danielle Bilodeau, and Lewiston High School’s Esther Pelletier, gave presentations to school board members.

Some teachers are concerned all the planning “will sit on a shelf,” Martin said, adding that won’t happen. New tests for the new curriculum will begin in 2014-15.

Montello’s Barber said the new learning will mean when students move to a different school, which is common, “they don’t have these huge holes, and we’re not trying to play a guessing game figuring out what happened at Farwell and what I’ve (taught) at Montello that they’ve missed.”

Teachers are “really excited we’re all going to have a common curriculum where students are going to get the same type of learning experiences across the grade levels,” Barber said.

Lewiston teachers will begin to receive training Wednesday, Martin said. The new curriculum will provide opportunities for teachers to learn what’s happening in other schools, allow teachers to work together “and ensure we’re helping students reach the highest standards possible,” Barber said.

The School Committee also voted to approve a federal grant that will provide after-school enrichment programs for 100 or more middle-school and high-school students. Those programs will begin later this fall, Webster said.

bwashuk@sunjournal.com

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