Jordan Burns, left, receives her ballot Tuesday from clerk Ronnie Paradis while voting on the Lewiston school budget referendum at Longley School. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — Residents approved the $98.8 million school budget in a 210-159 vote Tuesday.

Poll workers said voting at the Longley School gym was quiet but steady throughout the day. In total, 369 ballots were cast, just 1.3% of registered voters in Lewiston. It’s the lowest number of voters since 2012 and the lowest participation rate since at least 2008 – except in 2020 when the vote was held together with the state primary – according to city data.

Question two, which asked whether voters wished the city to continue to conduct a referendum to approve the school budget each year, passed 253-114.

This question is required by the state to be on the ballot every three years.

Question three was an opinion poll. A total of 160 voters believed the $98.8 million spending plan was “too high;” 103 indicated it was “acceptable;” and 100 voters selected “too low.”

Two ballots were blank on question two and six were blank on question three.

The budget process this year stood in stark contrast to 2021 when the City Council voted to send the School Committee’s original $95.7 million spending plan back to the drawing board. Ultimately, the City Council, then Lewiston residents, approved a revised budget of $92.2 million.

This year, the School Committee and City Council both unanimously approved the budget. After approving a $99.6 million spending plan, the School Committee agreed to work with the City Council to reduce it further to $98.8 million.

Jerry and Lee Berube vote Tuesday on the Lewiston school budget referendum at Longley School. “He would never miss an election,” City Clerk Kathy Montejo said about Jerry Berube, the former Lewiston City Clerk. Berube’s last year as City Clerk was 1998. Montejo started Jan. 1, 1999. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Several voters who spoke to the Sun Journal Tuesday said they were in support of the spending plan, with two saying they think it should be higher.

Andrea Breau voted to approve the budget, but believes it’s too low to adequately meet students’ needs.

“Funded schools are strong public schools” and strong communities, she said, adding that she respects the work of school leadership in managing tough situations this year.

Shaad Masood agreed. As long as there aren’t enough teachers in classrooms and school officials consider cutting programs, he said he will continue believing that the budget remains too low.

Former Lewiston City Councilor and Fire Chief Michel Lajoie said he voted in support of the budget because “I think it was the right thing to do.”

He said the School Committee and City Council have worked hard to create a budget with taxpayers in mind.

“I’ve been there, I’ve done that on the city side,” he said. “You know, we have to move things forward.”

Not all voters are completely sold by the higher budget, however. Donna Spugnardi, a retired librarian for Lewiston schools, said she isn’t sure that more money is the solution to problems like poor behavior and staff turnover, adding that she believes teachers are working hard in the face of an “upward battle.”

She declined to share how she voted, but said she was concerned by the low turnout.

“For some reason, I don’t think it’s a hot enough topic,” she said. She expressed concerns that the school budget referendum results mostly reflect educators’ opinions, who she said are more apt to vote, rather than the community as a whole.

The $98.8 million budget represents a 7% increase over the current fiscal year spending plan, increasing school taxes by 90 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. The owner of a $150,000 home will pay roughly $135 more in school tax this year than the previous year.

Seventy percent of Lewiston’s $98.8 million budget will be funded by state subsidies.