LEWISTON — The Lewiston School Department has some work to do when it comes to best practices on field trips that involve swimming, said Superintendent Bill Webster, reacting to a report on what happened when seventh-grader Rayan Issa drowned June 12 during a Lewiston Middle School field trip to Range Pond State Park in Poland. […]
Lewiston School Department
Posted inLetters, sj-web
School Department transparency
In response to Benjamin Martin (letter, May 26), I agree with him that the Lewiston School Department needs to be transparent, showing administration and management-type jobs in the budget. There has been an ever-increasing amount of administration/management type positions — jobs that are not directly teaching students (unlike teachers and educational technicians). In the budget, […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lewiston's 'gone Google'
LEWISTON — It’s a big deal “to have Google come to Lewiston,” David Theriault, director of instruction technology for the Lewiston School Department, said Tuesday. The tech company representatives came to speak to educators from throughout Maine during a Google ExploreEDU conference at The Green Ladle, “because we are a school that’s gone Google,” Theriault […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Bill Webster denies adults were made aware of bullying at Lewiston Middle School
LEWISTON — School Superintendent Bill Webster released a statement at noon Thursday saying he was not aware of any adult, inside or outside the school, who was made aware that the Lewiston Middle School student who died Tuesday was bullied. According to Webster’s statement, two of her classmates approached him directly “to say that she […]
Posted inLetters, sj-web
ACLU charges about public schools in Lewiston are without merit
The ACLU often plays an important role in the protection of constitutional rights, but the organization can sometimes take an inappropriate adversarial approach based upon outdated information and inaccuracies. That is the case with the recent charges against Lewiston schools. Last year, I met with Zachary Heiden, ACLU legal director, about the ACLU and Lewiston […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Lewiston schools don’t offer fair chance to all its students
Recently, the ACLU of Maine, Disability Rights Maine and KIDS Legal at Pine Tree sent a letter to Lewiston School Superintendent Bill Webster, identifying ways the District is currently falling short of its obligations to educate children of color and children with disabilities. We did not arrive at these concerns out of thin air. The […]
Posted inLetters
Poor management decision
The Lewiston School Committee unanimously voted to use $5,000 of taxpayer money, enabling Superintendent Bill Webster to take a three-month vacation — Oct. 24 to Jan.24, 2017 — when schools are in session. What a colossal waste of taxpayers’ money and a poor management decision. That use of money was not explained at the budget […]
Posted inLetters
Why all the fuss?
Ever since the Lewiston School Budget was voted down, I have seen article after article trying to justify the vote. Attempts to blame the low turnout, some of the key people who did not vote, letters to the editor, even comments from the superintendent that if all parents had turned out, it wouldn’t have happened. […]
Posted inLetters
Don’t be satisfied with school system
Newspaper articles and editorials are expected to contain a revelatory comment aptly condensing intent or significance. Newspapers frequently place this comment in bold print above the article. The Sun Journal editorial (May 12) regarding voter apathy is boldly headlined: “Too few voters deciding too many consequences.” But, within the editorial is this revelatory comment: “The […]
Posted inLetters
Lysen should listen to constituents
I found the article “Bigger school budget in works … New students account for much of increase in Lewiston proposal” (March 29) not really news, as that has been the theme for several years now. However, the comments from Councilor Jim Lysen were rather provocative, to say the least. Lysen said he supports a reasonable […]