LEWISTON, Maine — Lewiston City Council members are set to review an updated version of the school district's budget following a failed proposal shot down by residents.
This comes after members of the school committee met on May 20 to revise the budget and ultimately cut $500,000 worth of additions and changes.
Items and changes left out of the second draft of the school's budget include updates to student devices, a teacher coach position, a proposed expansion of a special education program, and more.
Although parents and residents have had differing opinions, Lewiston Public Schools Superintendent Jake Langlais said he's confident the school committee's newest draft will reflect what voters are looking for.
"I think our school committee has done a really great job for months now. [It's been] a lot of long nights talking about different things, and making sure we can provide certain resources for kids," Langlais said.
Langlais is also urging more voters to have their voices heard on the new budget when it goes to a vote on June 11.
Online, many parents and residents have discussed what they would like to see in an updated version of the school's budget. City councilor and representative to the school committee Scott Harriman said while it is tough to decide what will stay or go in the school budget, he wants residents to know that a chunk of it includes non-negotiables.
"There's a lot of challenges with this budget as far as costs that we don't really have that much control over," Harriman said. "It's approximately a 10 million dollar increase that's been proposed, but six million of that is just contractual increases in pay and benefits for staff."
If council members agree on the proposed budget on Tuesday, they will then vote to finalize it on Thursday.