By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – The city can expect this year to receive about 50 new refugees fleeing their home countries, but there’s no way to tell how many Somali residents will simply move here from other states, the School Committee learned Monday.

In a workshop with Catholic Charities Maine, the United Somali Women of Maine and Lewiston General Assistance, the School Committee spent an hour and a half discussing the ongoing influx of Somali residents. Over the last four years, the city’s African immigrant population has exploded from nearly nothing to about 1,700 people, Assistant City Administrator Phil Nadeau estimated a few weeks ago. The influx has been steady over the last year, with an average of 20 to 30 new Somali individuals moving to the city every month.

Schools, which once worked with just a few dozen foreign students, now have more than 380 children in their English as a second language program. The School Committee added about $175,000 to its proposed budget to pay for English services next year.

On Monday, Catholic Charities, United Somali Women and General Assistance representatives were invited to outline their services and answer questions from the School Committee.

“We want to be out front. We want to be fully educated,” Chairman James Handy said.

One of the most outspoken committee members Monday, Ronella Paradis asked about the rumors she’d heard, including one from a health official who said 500 new Somali individuals were arriving this summer.

Jen Babich, a Catholic Charities representative, said the federal government will likely send more than 200 new refugees to resettle in Maine this year, with about 50 going to Lewiston. But no one could say how many Somali families will continue to arrive here from Georgia, Massachusetts or other states because immigrants are free to move without notifying officials.

Five hundred, Babich said, is an unfounded rumor.

Paradis also asked how many current Somali residents were working and whether immigrants received preference for federal aid.

“I’m playing devil’s advocate tonight. These are questions I hear,” she said.

Agency representatives said they did not have precise figures Monday night on how many Somali residents had found jobs, although Babich estimated that 85 percent of those who moved to Lewiston in March had found work and 70 percent of other working Somali adults retained their jobs after 18 months.

They said immigrants did not receive preference for federal aid.

Other School Committee members asked whether an increase in city buses would help new immigrants; Babich said it would. They also asked whether it was tough for Somali men and women to adjust to the American culture.

Fatuma Hussein, a representative for the United Somali Women of Maine, said “yes” to that, too.

In Somalia, women raise families. They don’t work outside the home, Hussein said.

“She comes here, she suddenly has to assume a number of different roles,” she said.

The transition is often difficult for both men and women.

“It’s a big, big, big problem,” she said.

Hussein and the other representatives said they are dealing with such issues and are working with Lewiston Adult Education and local colleges to ensure that all Somali residents are getting the education, support and job resources they need to survive in America.

They vowed to continue working with the school system.

School Committee members agreed.

“We must not act on rumors but on facts,” School Committee member Larry Lachance said. “There are too many rumors flying and tonight cleared the air for me.”