LEWISTON — Parents and teachers Monday urged the city’s elected officials to consider class sizes before they begin making school budget cuts.

“I know there is a high level of sensitivity concerning tax increases and I know this is a complicated process,” parent Jodi Wolverton of 23 Pond Ridge Road said. “But I also know that for years we have underfunded our schools and the result is what we see every day, overcrowded classrooms.”

City councilors and members of the School Committee met Monday to hear Superintendent Bill Webster’s proposed budget. It calls for a $3.7 million spending increase for the 2015-16 fiscal year.

The increases include $207,000 to cover a new state retirement rule, $193,000 for deferred building maintenance, $1.7 million for special education, $330,000 in transportation expenses and $323,000 to hire 10 teachers to reduce classroom size.

“All other items in the budget, all $37 million, only amount to 1.1 percent of the proposed increase,” Webster said.

Classroom size and the parent-to-student ratio is a big issue, Webster said. Lewiston’s student population is increasing and the current ratio of students to teachers is 22.8-to-1.  The state guideline is 20-to-1.

Hiring 10 more teachers would lower that ratio slightly, with an estimated 21 students per teacher by the 2016-17 school year.

“It’s still far higher than most school systems in the state of Maine,” Webster said.

Parents and teachers said it’s very important. Marnie Morneault of 16 Huckins St., said the ratio is higher for many classes.

“My son, who is a fourth-grader, has never experienced fewer than 28 students in his classroom,” she said. “My first-grader has never experienced under 27.”

Montello School Principal Jim Cliffe said it takes a toll on teachers who do not have enough time to work with students.

“I understand our responsibility to be fiscally responsible,” Cliffe said. “But we also have a responsibility to send out into the city of Lewiston students who are mathematically and linguistically literate. I think our students and our community deserve that.”

School officials are scheduled to settle their budget by April 13, with the City Council voting on it by May 5. Voters get their say at a May 12 referendum.

Councilors said they did have some concerns. Councilor Mark Cayer noted that schools have a negative fund balance due to a new state accounting for teachers’ summer health insurance. Webster outlined his plan to pay that off and rebuild the fund balance.

Cayer noted that until the school’s fund balance was rebuilt, the deficit eats into the city’s fund balance.

“I’m going to struggle to support this budget if that is still in there,” Cayer said.

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