This week, the Lewiston School Committee and the City Council will each hold meetings to discuss a variety of topics. Here’s what to expect.
Lewiston School Committee
Monday, October 6 at 5:30 pm
The Green Ladle, 156 East Ave
Meeting Agenda
The agenda is short for this meeting, which will be followed by two student disciplinary hearings.
Administration will present data related to staffing levels and turnover rates since 2019. A presentation will include a line graph that displays the turnover rate for each of those years.
The total number of staff members leaving the district is not given for each year, but that may be expanded on during the presentation. Also included in the data are the districtwide vacancies as of 10/01/2025.
Also on the agenda is a presentation about an Annual Enrollment Projection Report. The report, prepared and submitted by PowerSchool’s Predictive Enrollment Analytics Team, predicts that enrollment in Lewiston schools will continue to increase.
District enrollment in 2024 was 4895. The moderate prediction for 2029 is 5655; for 2034, it’s 5954. Connors and McMahon elementary schools were tagged for the biggest percentage changes over both five and ten year periods.
This data will help the Committee plan for future needs of the district.
The Committee also plans to review policies Patriotic Exercises, Flag Displays, Substance-Free Workplace, Pregnant Students, and Post-Graduate Students. The Post-Graduate Students policy may be deleted while the rest are up for a 1st read.
All policies are reviewed every few years by the Committee, and must then pass a 1st reading, followed by a 2nd reading at an additional meeting.
Lewiston City Council
Tuesday, October 7 at 7:00 pm
Council Chambers, City Hall, 27 Pine Street
Meeting Agenda
Councilors will continue their discussion about rules for syringe service programs (SSP’s) in the city. After heated discussion and debate during the last meeting, Councilors voted to postpone the discussion until the following meeting.
One sticking point was the requirement that SSP’s adhere to a 1-for 1 policy when it comes to exchanging needles (patients can only get 1 needle for every needle they turn in). This requirement was removed from the ordinance in a 4-3 vote.
While discussing the proposed zoning map, which shows where SSP’s would be allowed to operate, Councilors seemed split over how restrictive they felt the map was. Expect this to be a spirited debate during the Tuesday night meeting.
Also on the agenda is a vote approving the location for the new 911 Communication Dispatch Center. Lewiston and Auburn share emergency dispatch services, and have operated out of the basement of Auburn’s Central Fire Station at 550 Minot Avenue fire station for more than a quarter century.
With Auburn planning to demolish the building in order to construct a new Public Safety Facility, the 911 Center must leave before June of next year. A 911 Committee was created to determine where the Center would be moved to.
The committee looked at 85 Park Street in Lewiston but determined the location to be unfeasible. It also looked at moving the operation to Auburn City Hall at 60 Court Street, which is what the committee is proposing.
Lewiston City Administrator Bryan Kaenrath is recommending approval of the committee’s recommendation.
On the agenda is an item to choose a resident to join the Lewiston Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. The Mayor has nominated Jody Jalbert to the position.
Jalbert, a lifelong resident of Lewiston, was appointed to the board in June of this year to fill a vacancy. These appointments require approval by the City Council, which will vote on Jalbert’s nomination Tuesday as part of the consent agenda.