Oliver gets a ride Thursday in a wagon from his CLIMB classroom to the gym at McMahon Elementary School in Lewiston. Special education teacher Janene Dorr holds the door on the right. Students were originally transported by wagon during renovations. Now, the wagon rides are used as an activity to aid with transitions throughout the day. The CLIMB program has saved money for Lewiston schools, but it’s also added to a space shortage that has the district considering expansion. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — A new program that keeps special education students in Lewiston schools — saving millions of dollars — is also adding to enrollment growth, and putting a premium on classroom space.

The growing enrollment, Superintendent Jake Langlais said, will most likely require the district to add more space.

“The need for expansion is very real,” Langlais told councilors during a budget discussion last week. “If our enrollment continues to grow, we do not have the facilities.”

Langlais outlined the somewhat-surprising enrollment growth and the role the district’s new CLIMB special education program is playing in expansion talks.

This year, the district reached the 6,000-student mark for the first time in recent history, and Langlais said the department is still considering ways it can use the recently purchased building at 287 Main St. building to alleviate the space crunch.

Enrollment this year, at 6,067, is up from 5,842 last year, and is nearly 1,000 more students than the district had during the 2020-21 school year.

The discussion Tuesday was part of a budget workshop, where Langlais outlined the success the district has seen with its CLIMB program, a new effort this year to keep special education students in the district and save money.

While the program costs about $2 million, Langlais said it has saved the district roughly $4 million in its first year. A state law requires school districts to either provide special needs students with the proper resources or pay tuition to send them out of the district for those resources. The district pays on average about $150,000 for each student to attend an out-of-district program, officials said.

Langlais said about 20 students have been relocated to the school district this year who had an existing placement out of district. As soon as they move to Lewiston, it’s the school district’s responsibility to send them there, he said.

A wing of McMahon Elementary School was renovated for the program, which has grown to roughly 50 students this year, and Langlais said the district has plans to grow the program to eventually house some 300 students. While the effort will save the district money, it will also require more space, he said.

The former Central Maine Healthcare building at 287 Main St. in Lewiston, seen in December 2023, is owned by the Lewiston School Department, which is considering using it to alleviate a space crunch. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal file

Last year, the district purchased the former Central Maine Healthcare building at 287 Main St. to alleviate the space needs, but officials have not yet decided how it will be used. Langlais said the building could house the CLIMB program.

He said he’s hoping to host a walk-through soon with city officials, and has been working with city administration on possibilities.

Asked if school districts could simply say they don’t have the space to take in new students, Langlais said they are legally obligated to take them.

“If we don’t comply, we will end up in litigation that will cost us far more than renovations would cost,” he said.

A graph shows Lewiston’s student enrollment growth over the past decade. The student population reached 6,000 this year for the first time in recent history. Lewiston School Department

He told the council that with President Donald Trump coming into office, he anticipated a slowdown of new families coming into the district, but that hasn’t happened.

Families who were in different communities are finding their way back to Lewiston, where resources are more centralized, and there’s family networks they can rely on, he said.

He said with more housing in the pipeline, he believes “it’s a good thing, economically, in the long-term,” but that it’s concerning for school space. Some elementary school classrooms already have 23 students, he said.

“If you go look at the classrooms, you can’t physically go put more desks in them,” he said.

Langlais said school officials might also need to have a redistricting conversation and look at reorganizing schools based on grades.

“If (287 Main St.) came online, it would help, but we can’t grow much more,” he said. “It’s not just classroom space. We can’t have an assembly because kids can’t fit in the gym.”

City councilors praised the school department for its work in starting the CLIMB program, saying it will save taxpayers money in the long run.

Langlais said that when the renovations were underway for the CLIMB wing at McMahon Elementary School, teachers used plastic wagons to maneuver students around the work site. He said now it’s become a tradition that the students have maintained.

“If you need to brighten your day, just go to McMahon and watch those kids hit the hall, they just love it,” he said.

The proposed school budget for next year, at $117.1 million, is a 3.4% increase from this year. Lower than anticipated health insurance costs will likely allow the district to lower that number by between $200,000 and $400,000, Langlais said.

The School Committee is slated to discuss the budget again April 28, and a referendum is scheduled for May 13. Last year, voters rejected the school budget twice before finally approving it. Much of the budget increase at the time was for special education.

Mayor Carl Sheline said Wednesday he’s proud that Lewiston is one of the youngest cities in Maine, and that a growing school system should be celebrated.

“I recognize that there are challenges, but these are good problems to have,” he said.