LEWISTON – For the first time, Lewiston and Auburn schools are adopting the same school calendar for 2007-08.

Unlike previous years, school begins in both cities on the same day: Aug. 28.

Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks will be the same, as well as student days off for teacher workshops and vacations.

Both cities will give high school mid-term exams at the same time, Jan. 22-25.

Lewiston-Auburn schools are scheduled to close for the summer June 11.

(Winter storms and snow days could change that date.)

The biggest difference is that Lewiston’s elementary grades won’t be dismissed early every Wednesday as Auburn does. However, after hearing from disgruntled parents, Auburn’s early release practice will come up for discussion at the Sept. 5 Auburn School Committee meeting, committee member Lane Feldman said.

Lewiston Superintendent Leon Levesque said Tuesday that he asked Auburn last year to consider a uniform calendar to make it easier on parents, businesses and the community.

The two school departments came up with draft calendars, then worked together, each making compromises, Levesque said. “We have so much in common, there’s no reason this shouldn’t be looked at. It’s good for the community.”

Acting Auburn Superintendent Tom Morrill agreed, saying it’s one example of how the two school departments are working together. “We meet on a monthly basis with Lewiston. We’re sharing ideas and efficiencies.” Adopting a common calendar, especially when the Twin Cities share some education programs, makes sense, Morrill said.

Each city’s school Web page contains calendars. It looks the same with identical type and color codings.

Another reason for adopting uniform calendars is the 1,000 students who attend the Lewiston Regional Technical Center. High school students from Lewiston, Edward Little, Lisbon, Oak Hill, Poland and Leavitt send students to LRTC. But when different high schools have different days off, the center lacks full classes, and “kids lose instructional time,” Levesque said.

He’s passed out the Lewiston-Auburn school calendar to the sending schools and asked them to consider aligning calendars to cut down on lost class time. Some are.

Oak Hill High School Principal Pat Doyle said after Levesque asked regional schools to match calendars, Oak Hill’s schedule was changed slightly, including when students take final exams. Now Oak Hill’s calendar matches Lewiston-Auburn’s, she said.

Poland Regional High School Principal Bill Doughty said his school’s calendar had different teacher workshop days that could not be changed, but some changes were made to more closely align with Lewiston-Auburn’s calendar. “We set it up as closely as we could.”

Another change is that Lewiston and Auburn have coordinated high school graduations to cut costs to taxpayers, Levesque said. “We both use the Colisee for graduation. This year we’ll share costs for setting up the facility.” Lewiston’s graduation will be held on a Friday night, June 6; Edward Little’s on a Saturday night, June 7. Next year the schools will switch nights.

Putting the two graduations back-to-back means chairs and staging won’t have to be set up twice. “We’re looking at efficiencies,” Levesque said. “This was one thing that was very doable.”

Chip Morrison, president of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce, said adopting a common calendar “is a good idea” and will make it easier on families and businesses. Some families, due to divorce and second marriages, have kids in both school systems. And businesses rely on the calendars to see when their workers’ children will be out of school.

“Putting it all together is the right thing to do,” Morrison said. “This is more one community than it is two.”