LEWISTON — After hearing an overview of the proposed $52.7 million school budget Monday night, city councilors asked the School Committee why new spending is needed.

The answer was that an in-house suspension program for elementary students, an automatic time keeping system for hourly workers, and a special education evaluation will save money and/or improve education.

School Superintendent Bill Webster said the budget goals are to meet the needs of Lewiston students, not increase property taxes, and build programs that will be sustainable.

The proposed budget is 2.9 percent higher than last year, but more state funding means it would not raise taxes. Because of a change of property valuation, a $200,000 cut in the proposal will have to happen to ensure there’ll be no property tax hike, Webster said. How that will be done has not yet been decided. “We’ve got work to do,” he said.

Ward 1 Councilor John Butler, who said Friday that the city should not be paying to transport parochial St. Dominic Academy students, proposed Monday that the city side of the budget no longer pay for school busing; that those costs be shifted to the School Department.

No action was taken on Butler’s suggestion, although several officials spoke in defense of busing for Lewiston parochial students. Any change in busing St. Dominic Academy students will be decided by the Lewiston City Council, since it’s in its budget. That debate has yet to happen, Ward 2 Councilor Renee Bernier said.

In other areas, Bernier asked why a $30,000 in-house suspension program at Montello is needed, expressing frustration that taxpayers are picking up the parenting job not being done by some parents.

Montello Principal Deb Goding said there are about 104 suspensions a year, ranging from a half of day to 10 days. There are too many, she said, adding the K-6 students are missing out on learning and falling behind.

In the pilot program, suspended students would go to school but be in a contained classroom where they would do their work and get help from counselors to improve behavior.

Several School Committee members Paul St. Pierre and Walter Hill, praised the idea, saying it could keep students from becoming dropouts, making it cost effective.

Mayor Laurent Gilbert, a former Lewiston police chief, said older students who are suspended “end up downtown in an apartment where there are drugs and alcohol.” It becomes a police problem, then a court and juvenile problem. “If we can avoid that, I like the idea.”

Councilor Mark Carter cautioned it’s important there be ways to measure whether the program is effective, since public support for new programs may not be there in tough economic times.

Other spending outlined included $1 million more for special education. Lewiston has a growing student population, including more special education students. The extra money is needed to educate students with more serious needs who require out-of-district placement. Webster also wants an independent evaluation of the program.

“We have an excellent special ed program in Lewiston. The question is can we offer the same level of service in a different way that might save some money?”

He said another $300,000 is needed to teach English Language Learner students, mostly Somali immigrants. “We have a growing enrollment of this population. One of the things I want to emphasize is success for these students is truly success for all.” Lewiston receives significant state support for ELL students. “It’s been brought into question whether we’re spending all the money being allocated to us.”

More — $60,000 — would be spent for busing to revert back to half-day prekindergarten classes. This year the School Department has 4-year-old preschoolers attending full days two days a week.

“We found it just isn’t working,” Webster said, adding a full-day is too much for them, and they’re not retaining lessons attending school two days a week.

Other than some questions, councilors had few complaints.

Overall, the proposal is “pretty responsible,” Bernier said. “They’ve done some very hard work to it. They’ll probably trim it down some more.”

Ward 7 Councilor Stephen Morgan said the School Committee is “only asking for a minor increase, but it’s a time when we’re all looking at the numbers.”

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