LEWISTON — Local teachers apparently did not join the large number of active and retired educators who gathered in Augusta on Friday to speak against the pension changes proposed by Gov. Paul LePage.

At least, they didn’t go during school hours.

School officials in Lewiston, Auburn, the Oxford Hills district in Oxford and the Western Foothills district in Dixfield said they did not have an unusual number of teachers absent Friday.

Teachers often get a number of personal days to use during the school year. In Auburn, for example, teachers are allowed two days to deal with personal affairs that can’t be dealt with during after-school hours. Those personal days are deducted from accumulated sick leave. In the Mountain Valley district, teachers get 13 days total for sick and personal time.

In Auburn on Friday, six teachers and ed techs were out. In Lewiston, about 25 teachers were out due to illness, family medical issues or maternity leave. 

Patrick Hartnett, assistant superintendent for the Oxford Hills School District, said schools would have notified the superintendent’s office if there was a problem with absences. 

Western Foothills Superintendent Tom Ward said he believed a couple of his teachers might have used personal time to join the budget discussion in Augusta, but his schools did not have an unusual number of absences, either.

ltice@sunjournal.com