AUBURN — The School Committee voted unanimously to allow the SHARECenter to sign a new lease agreement and enter into a fiscal partnership with Community Concepts, enabling the SHARECenter to receive donations it would otherwise be unable to under a municipal department.

The only thing left to do to make the organization’s move to the former Rotary Auto Sales building at 1830 Lisbon St., Lewiston, and officially sign the lease, said SHARECenter Director Lisa Rodrigues.

The 5-year lease agreement for the nearly 20,000 square-foot space is planned to begin Nov. 1. The organization will pay about $12,000 a month in rent, plus utilities.

The former Rotary Auto Sales building at 1830 Lisbon St. in Lewiston, shown Monday, is expected to be the new home of the SHARECenter, now at the former Martel Elementary School at 880 Lisbon St. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Volunteers from the R.E.S.T. Center in Lewiston are currently helping move all of the SHARECenter’s items from the former Martel School into its new building. Rodrigues anticipates the move will be finished by winter break in December and the new location will open at the start of 2023.

The new location will also allow the SHARECenter to open an overstock retail space and accept donations from national retailers.

By partnering with Community Concepts, a nonprofit organization with a 501(c) designation, the SHARECenter will be able to receive donations as if it were a 501(c) nonprofit itself. The organization was started and has been run as a unique entity under the Auburn School Department since its founding roughly 30 years ago.

Some donors are unwilling or unable to give to the organization without a 501(c) fiscal partner, Rodrigues said.

In other news, the School Committee gave final approval to a new set of goals, which direct the school district to improve its graduation rate to 95% and increase standardized test proficiency by 2025.

Originally, the standardized test goal called for all students in Auburn to reach proficiency by 2025. This goal is not practical, argued Ward 4 representative Brian Belknap II. He suggested the committee strike the words “all students” and replace them with “the School Department,” which was ultimately approved by the committee.

The amended goal under student outcomes now reads: “District Mandated Testing: The School Department will meet or exceed standards by 2025.”

At the start of the meeting, Jobs for Maine Graduates students and officials gave a presentation about the impact of the program on Edward Little High School students.

Jobs for Maine Graduates is an education nonprofit which seeks to support students who are at risk for dropping out of school and to strengthen Maine’s workforce.

The program has a 100% graduation rate for students in its program at Edward Little since its start roughly five years ago, according to Chief of Operations Matt St. John.

Students enrolled in the program praised the organization and thanked the teachers for their support.

Jobs for Maine Graduates not only helped Graca Muzela obtain his transcripts from Angola, allowing him to graduate from high school and enroll in college, but it also provided him financial assistance for tuition, housing and more. Muzela was named the 2022 student of the year at Washington County Community College, where he is studying electrical engineering.

For Morgan Mattson, a nursing student at Central Maine Community College, the program provided extra support while she worked through the legalities of emancipation as a junior in high school. Now a college student, she participates in the organization’s college-level programming.

“I can wholeheartedly say I would not have made it where I am today without the support of (Jobs for Maine Graduates teachers),” she said, additionally praising the “real world” education the organization offers.