LEWISTON — In a straw poll Wednesday night, residents voted 44-3 in favor of a new elementary school for the students of Martel and Longley.

The nonbinding vote held at Lewiston High School means the project will proceed. Voters will decide in a June 14 referendum whether to approve the project.

The school would be built on the football field near the high school on East Avenue. High school students would get new fields.

Diane Wigant and Julie Colello, Lewiston parents and Longley teachers who serve on the Building Committee, said they were happy with Wednesday’s vote.

“I’m in favor of the bigger school to support the population,” Colello said. It’s normal to have some people opposed, she said. “We just have to make sure everyone understands all the facts.”

Wigant said she has a vested interest in the new school, not only as a teacher, but as a parent “whose kids just left this school system and are in college. They want to come back to this community.”

To have schools that are crowded because of a growing community, “I don’t think is a bad thing,” Wigant said. “We can’t raise a community with all senior citizens. We need young people who are going to be vibrant in this community.”

Before the vote, residents heard a presentation from Harriman architect Jeff Larimer and Superintendent Bill Webster about the school, the costs, the impact on traffic and the building design.

As proposed, the 880-student school would take Martel and Longley pupils, and some pupils from other elementary schools.

Resident Gerry Worthington asked what happens if the new school is full a year or two after it opens.

Webster said two professional enrollment projections were wrong within a year of those studies being completed.

When the new school opens, there will be room for 150 extra students, Webster said.

“We will retain ownership of Longley and Martel. If we had to we could make Longley a citywide kindergarten/pre-K center, freeing 250 seats across the city.”

Worthington asked what happens when the middle school is full: Will taxpayers be asked to build a new middle school?

Webster said the School Department is “doing what is prudent” with growing student population and full schools.

“By retaining Martel and Longley, and using some space for middle school classroom at the Lewiston Armory, and with the new school “the city is as well-positioned as one could expect,” Webster said.

He said the new school is needed.

“If this school does not get approved, we are going to be in a heap of trouble in terms of our ability to have class sizes under 30 because we have no place to put the children,” Webster said.

Worthington asked whether Lewiston could turn students away. “Can we send them someplace else?” he asked.

“We can only say no to a pre-K student. We cannot say no to a K-12 student,” Webster said.

Others were pleased with the new school proposal. Lewiston High School teacher Rachel Nadeau said after her mother died last year, she brought her mother’s classroom supplies to a Martel kindergarten classroom.

“I was nearly brought to tears when I walked in that building,” she said, calling the school’s condition deplorable. “There is no way we can’t do this. Our children deserve better.”

Having a city with a growing student population “is a good problem.” The high school is full, but “it makes it feel more like a family,” Nadeau said. “I enjoy working there so much because of that.”

She asked how the school would affect traffic at the high school, which already “is not the best situation.” Too often parents text on their way in and out, stop and drop off students where they shouldn’t, and ignore signs, she said.

Officials said they’re aware of that. The new school would only add buses coming off East Avenue dropping off young students. Those buses would come at different times because the schools have different start times. Elementary school parents would drop off students from a new road off Bartlett Street.

What you need to know

Who would attend?

As proposed, the new elementary school would hold 880 students, including those from Martel and Longley elementary schools and other schools. Class sizes at all elementary schools would be reduced.

Where would it be built?

The school would be built where the football field is near Lewiston High School on East Avenue.

How much would it cost?

One question on the June 14 referendum asks voters to approve a $49 million school, which would be paid entirely by the state.

Another question asks voters to approve a $52 million school; $49 million paid by the state and $2.1 million in local money for a larger, regulation-size gym, air conditioning and a second artificial turf field for the high school.

If approved, the school would open in 2019.