Several hundred more enrolled in Lewiston schools than last year

LEWISTON — There are several hundred more students in Lewiston schools this year compared to last, Superintendent Jake Langlais told the School Committee at Monday’s meeting, so the administration is trying to be sure there are enough teachers.

As of Monday, there are 5,593 students, which compares to 5,200 in 2022-23.

Administrators are looking to ensure there are an adequate number of teachers, a stark contrast to concerns from past years about not having enough students to fill classrooms.

If there are many more new students, administrators might have to consider sending some to schools outside their neighborhoods, Langlois said.

Jennifer Farrin prepares a Math Community Work Sheet on Monday morning in her classroom at Raymond A. Geiger Elementary School at 601 College St. in Lewiston. Kindergarten students will come in one at a time Wednesday just to get acquainted with the school and classroom. Their classes will start Sept. 5. Grades one to nine start Wednesday and grades 10-12 start Thursday. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

The superintendent said he is seeing many home-schooled students returning to public schools this year. He thinks many parents are realizing how difficult it is to home-school children, and now that the pandemic has ended, they feel school is a safer place for their children.

There will be about 20 students of all ages attending Lewiston schools from asylum-seeker families staying at the Ramada by Wyndham Lewiston Hotel and Conference Center on Pleasant Street, Langlais said.

Many of those families had been staying at the Portland Expo since last spring but the city needed to find other means of housing for them by mid-August. Nearly 200 were moved to the Ramada and are expected to be there until Nov. 1.

Families have the option to send their children to Portland or Lewiston, Langlais said. For many families, it is a difficult decision to choose what school district to send their children because they do not know where they are going to be after Nov. 1.

Lewiston Adult Education has 120 people on its waiting list, which is looking to hire more staff, Langlais said.

Chairperson Megan Parks asked if the district should hire someone to calculate enrollment projections.

Langlais said it was something to consider.