LEWISTON — As another difficult budget season looms, school officials are pressing The Store Next Door to identify alternative sources of funding to pay its staff.

The nonprofit organization based at Longley School supports homeless Lewiston students and their families with clothes, hygiene items and washing facilities.

Started by school staff more than 20 years ago, The Store Next Door is closely affiliated with Lewiston schools. Until this month, all staff members — who are also school employees — were paid using funds from the school budget.

But after the district cut 61 positions from the budget this year, including some classroom teachers, Superintendent Jake Langlais said it’s become harder to justify funding The Store Next Door staff when other revenue sources, such as grants and donations, are open to them as a nonprofit organization.

The last of the federal pandemic-era relief funds are set to end after this school year, leaving school officials concerned that they may have to cut even more school staff.

“We may get to a point where we can’t cut any more (school) staff and continue to fund (The Store Next Door),” he said. “We want to make sure we find a way for it to be sustainable.”

Yet, board members for The Store Next Door say it’s unreasonable to expect the nonprofit to dedicate what little resources it has to covering staffing costs when student need is higher than ever.

This school year, Lewiston school district recorded the highest number of homeless students in at least 10 years for the second year in a row.

From the 2010-11 to the 2019-20 school years, the Lewiston school district identified an average of 143 homeless students annually. Last year, the annual count was 213, rising 55% this year to 330 homeless students.

Ronald Potvin, chief operating officer for The Store Next Door, said he fears the school may not provide any funding for The Store Next Door next year due to budget constraints.

As part of a $3.4 million reduction plan this spring, the administrative team suggested cutting $50,000 from The Store Next Door. Ultimately, the School Committee voted to return the funding to the budget after numerous people voiced their opposition.

The approved $101 million budget included funding for the nonprofit’s two full-time staff members, director Jamie Caouette and Joel Morse, but not for a part-time position approved only for the 2022-23 school year with excess budget funds. That role is held by retired homeless student liaison Mary Seaman, the founder of The Store Next Door.

In total, the nonprofit needs $225,000 annually to maintain it’s two full-time staff members, one part-time staff member and the facility, Potvin said. In the most recent school budget, the organization received just under $200,000.

The Store Next Door has enough money to cover Seaman’s position until November, Potvin said. After that, he’s not sure whether the nonprofit can afford to pay her.

Last year, The Store Next Door received $46,000 in donations, its only revenue source beyond school funding, Potvin said.

Before now, 99% of donations went directly to providing resources for homeless students and their families, he said. If the organization is forced to focus on raising funds to pay its three staff members, he’s worried that student support will suffer.

“This is the most vulnerable population of the Lewiston school district,” Potvin said. “We don’t have a problem with taking over the (operating and staffing costs). The problem is we can’t do it now.”

He said the organization could manage to support itself with a five-year transition plan, but not by the end of the school year.

Neither a timeline nor transition plan for the nonprofit has been determined yet, Langlais said, emphasizing that the result of the School Committee election this fall could impact the direction of the school budget discussions next year. A different School Committee may prioritize adding positions or take a stricter stance and reallocate their current funding elsewhere, he said.

“What (these discussions) may lead to down the road is unknown,” he said. “But at no point in time has anyone said ‘we don’t need this’ or ‘we want this to go away.'”

Relocating The Store Next Store from school property has not been a part of these discussions, Langlais said, noting that the space at Longley School was renovated specifically for the nonprofit’s use.

Megan Parks, the School Committee chairperson and a member of The Store Next Door’s board, said the board proposed some possible solutions to work toward financial independence, however several members of the school committee have not been receptive to these options.

In one option, the nonprofit would have given the school district $25,000 to maintain Seaman’s position, Potvin said. Retaining her as a school employee, rather than a direct employee of The Store Next Door, would have saved the nonprofit thousands of dollars in additional costs, he said.

However, committee members vetoed the suggestion, concerned that it would be viewed as adding a position to a support program after dozens of other positions were cut, he said.

“The (Store Next Door) board feels very strongly that after three years of growth and support from (the Lewiston school district) to meet the needs of our growing homeless youth population, the rug was yanked away this year with no warning,” Parks said. “A gradual and intentional transition period would have been more appropriate.”

Langlais said that there are a lot of opportunities for The Store Next Door to pursue grants.

“The hope is that they’re doing that,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s happened.”

Potvin said that The Store Next Door staff have been too overwhelmed by their current duties to pursue grant opportunities. Parks said a memorandum of understanding which clearly defines the nonprofit’s relationship with the school district is necessary for them to receive more funding.

“Grant applications are being denied because the lines of finances and responsibility are blurred between the nonprofit and (the Lewiston school district),” she said. “This must be cleared up for The (Store Next Door) to be able to successfully pursue needed grant funding and public donations.”

Langlais suggested that if staff members are unable to apply for grants, board members should help take on the responsibility.

If it came down to it, Langlais said he would fight to maintain the current resources available to homeless students, including funding for the two full-time staff members at The Store Next Door and the Longley Resource Center. He believes the School Committee similarly doesn’t want to see the program decline.

Ultimately, however, the decision will come down to how much money the school district has available and how the School Committee chooses to allocate those funds, he said.

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