LEWISTON — The School Committee on Monday wrestled with budget requests for more administrative support, including a third assistant principal at Connors Elementary School.

The newest and most populated elementary school was understaffed from the beginning, Superintendent Todd Finn said.

“They needed some help,” Finn said.

Connors has the highest number, 290, among elementary schools of English Language Learners pupils, second only in the district to the high school, which has 325, according to budget documents. Forty of the 290 ELL pupils at Connors get special education services.

To meet the needs of Connors students and staff, an assistant principal was moved temporarily from the Longley building, where alternative programs are housed, to Connors. No assistant principal was needed at the Longley building because no students have been expelled this year, Finn said.

The position will be moved back to Longley when it opens as Impact Academy, an alternative program designed to improve attendance and the graduation rate, which is among the lowest in the state.

Staffing the academy is his priority, Finn said. The cost of the new position (salary and benefits) would be $107,455, according to budget documents.

If the new position were not funded, “we would have to be very innovative (at Connors),” he said. “And there’s nothing wrong with being innovative, but at the end of the day I’m not going to let our students go without, not let our teachers and administrators go without. I think it’s a valid ask-for.”

But Alicia Rea, the committee’s City Council representative, asked to move the request to the side for further discussion and more details. 

“I feel I would have a hard time selling a new assistant principal to the council, knowing that those requests grow year after year,” Rea said.

Rea’s request means the item is potentially out of the budget, Chief Administrative Officer Bobbi Avery said.

Chairwoman Monique Roy said the committee will have an opportunity to reflect “in-depth” on the needs of Connors Elementary.

“Why not a dean? What is the main role (of this administrator)? Is it for discipline or support for the principal?” Roy asked.

“If support is needed at Connors, we need to give it in the most appropriate way,” she said.

The budget also proposes reallocating the salaries of assistant principals at Montello Elementary and Lewiston Middle School into the Office of the Principal account, which is a districtwide cost center. That would add $169,800 to the account.

The positions are funded under the ELL program. But state-mandated coding requires the positions to be reallocated, Avery said.

“There will probably be more allocations,” she said. “We need to make sure our coding is correct.”

A less contentious spending increase of $41,787 (salary and benefits) would add an administrative assistant for Athletic Director Jason Fuller.

“We need to not stretch too thin the people running our athletic department,” Finn said. “I struggle to understand how (Fuller) does what he does. He does a tremendous job, and I wholeheartedly support the request.”

Lewiston High School Principal Jake Langlais said an assistant would give Fuller the capacity to add a volleyball program, which Langlais said would be popular among students.

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