LEWISTON — The School Committee will get its first look at a report recommending sending some 234 students to different schools, changes that could happen this September.
“This will be the first report going to the full board,” Lewiston schools Superintendent Bill Webster said. A subcommittee has been working on redistricting since March.
What the committee gets Monday night will be a draft recommendation proposing to adjust populations at elementary schools. The middle and high schools would not be affected. As recommended, some 234 of the city’s 3,036 elementary students would be moved.
Before any students are moved to different schools, the committee will receive feedback during meetings held at each elementary school, Webster said.
In addition, “we’re sending letters to school families. I’m going to propose we make a presentation to the Lewiston City Council,” Webster said. “That feedback could change the recommendations. We will gather additional input and come back to the School Committee in late February,” Webster said.
As recommended in the draft report, 44 students would be moved from Montello to Geiger; 87 students moved from Montello to McMahon; 92 students moved from Geiger to Montello; one student from Montello to Farwell; two students from Farwell to Montello; and 10 students moved from Farwell to Montello.
As proposed, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders and their siblings would be allowed to stay at their current school, and transportation would be provided for two years, Webster said.
Redistricting is being proposed, Webster said, to provide equity to schools and students. “Research shows that schools that reflect the diversity of the city are more successful in the long-term.”
Citywide, 23 percent of the city’s student population are English Language Learning students, many of whom are from Somali families; and 67 percent of students get free and reduced meals, or are from poorer families.
Some schools have much higher and lower numbers of poorer and ELL students. For instance, Montello Elementary has 75 percent free and reduced meal students and 37 percent ELL. Meanwhile, McMahon has 52 percent of free and reduced meals students and 15 percent ELL students.
The goal is “to more closely parallel what’s reflective of the city,” Webster said.
The committee will meet at 6:45 p.m. at the School Department’s Dingley Building. The redistricting report is among the first items on the agenda.
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