LEWISTON — Parents of elementary school students are invited to meetings to learn about — and offer reaction to — a plan to send an estimated 234 students to different schools in September 2013.

The redistricting plan is designed to create more equal numbers of poorer students and those learning to speak English at each school.

As proposed, it would move 8 percent of the city’s 3,036 elementary-grade students. Fewer likely would be moved because students in grades four through six and their siblings would be allowed to stay at current schools. The redistricting plan would not affect middle or high school students.

A meeting will be held at each elementary school from Dec. 11 to Feb. 5, hosted by Superintendent Bill Webster. The Lewiston School Committee will have the final say on the proposal in February.

The proposed redistricting is in response to hefty student population growth; Lewiston is gaining 100 to 150 students each year.

In September 2013 there will be 10 new classrooms at McMahon Elementary. The School Department must fill those classrooms and reduce overcrowding at other schools, Webster said. Overall redistricting would create small classrooms, he said.

In the long term, the city plans to build a new school to replace the aging Martel Elementary in 2016-17, when state money is expected to be available. Plans call for the new school to house grades three through six from Martel, Longley and Farwell elementary schools. Farwell and Longley would become prekindergarten through grade two schools for Martel, Longley and Farwell students.

Citywide, 67 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and 23 percent are English Language Learning students.

Montello Elementary has a higher-than-average 75 percent of students who qualify for free or reduced meals and 37 percent in ELL classes. At McMahon, the numbers are lower: 52 percent get free or reduced meals and 15 percent are ELL students.

“Schools that reflect the diversity of the city are more successful in the long term,” Webster said. That’s based on research, Webster’s classroom observations and anecdotal comments from principals and teachers, he said.

Exposing all students to different ways of thinking and different people increases acceptance and awareness of the importance in working together, he said.

“Nothing makes me feel better as a superintendent than to go into a classroom and see students actively engaged, working together in groups of varying levels and backgrounds to reach successful outcomes,” Webster said. “Sometimes, some students may have mastered a skill and are helping other students.”

That develops skills for all and leadership abilities for those who are helping. “You’re not just bringing up students at the lower end, but raising everybody up,” Webster said.

While there is a benefit in placing some lower-achieving students with higher-achieving students, it would have to be done carefully, Webster said. Classrooms with too many under-performing students “can be an issue” and bring higher-achieving students down. Webster said he wouldn’t allow a balance that would bring down higher-achieving students.

The long-term redistricting would not mean an end to special efforts at Longley to help more students achieve grade-level standards, such as summer programs and longer days, Webster said. He hopes to expand those efforts to all Lewiston schools. “We need to have opportunities for all students who are not at grade level.”

Transportation costs could rise in the short term because accommodations would be made for families to keep their grades four through six students and siblings at current schools. Transportation would be provided for two years.

After those two years, transportation costs would fall “because we’ve created greater balance and efficiencies,” Webster said.

For example, pockets of Montello and Farwell students live on both sides of Sabattus Street. In the redistricting plan, students of each school are on one side of the street so the bus wouldn’t have to come back the other way, or students wouldn’t cross busy streets, Webster said.

He said he wouldn’t know how many students would be sent to different schools until after parents tell him whether they want their grades four through six students and siblings to stay. “We’ll need that information as quickly as possible,” he said.

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Redistricting meeting schedule for Lewiston elementary school parents and Superintendent Bill Webster. Parents’ input is being sought before a final decision is made in February.

Farwell, 7 p.m. Dec. 11; Geiger, 7 p.m. Dec. 12; Montello, 6 p.m. Dec. 12; McMahon, 6 p.m. Jan. 9; Longley, 7 p.m. Jan. 10; and Martel, 7 p.m. Feb. 5.

As recommended in September 2013, some 234 students would be redistricted: 44 would be moved from Montello to Geiger; 87 from Montello to McMahon; 92 from Geiger to Montello; one from Montello to Farwell; two from Farwell to Montello; and 10 students from Farwell to Montello. Students in grades four through six and their siblings would be allowed to stay at current schools. Transportation would be provided for two years.

To see the study that says diversity is good for students, go to: http://tinyurl.com/d5wjzbr.