State school subsidies would increase in the Twin Cities, according to a draft document released the Maine Department of Education on Friday.

State funding would increase from $18.6 million in the current fiscal year to $19.6 million in Auburn for the 2013-14 fiscal year. State funding would increase from $36.2 million to $38.6 million in Lewiston.

When debt service costs and a new requirement that schools pay more of teachers’ pensions are removed, the proposed funding formula amounts to a $521,096 increase for Auburn schools and a $1.8 million increase for Lewiston.

Those numbers are preliminary and could be changed by state legislators, according to a written statement from David Connerty-Marin, Maine Department of the Education communications director.

Lewiston School Superintendent Bill Webster said an growing school population was the likely cause of Lewiston’s increase.

“Our enrollment has a 2 percent increase compared the state going down 1 percent,” Webster said. “That’s advantageous for us from a formula standpoint, but we are still going to have challenges. If we want to maintain our present programs as well as accommodate the additional students we have, we have work to do.”

Auburn School Superintendent Katy Grondin said she received the draft of the subsidies Friday morning but had not had an opportunity to review them.

State support for schools went down for many districts across Maine, but western Maine’s school districts fared well.

State subsidies for Mount Blue Regional School District and Farmington-area schools would increase by $343,210 under the draft scenario. Western Foothills schools in the Rumford-Dixfield-Buckfield area would increase by $890,427 and schools in Mechanic Falls, Minot and Poland would increase by $387,000.

Schools in the Oxford Hills area would see an $18,927 increase until increased debt and pension costs are added in. With those additional costs, those schools would see about $318,518 less in 2014 than this year.

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