LEWISTON – After hearing from parents and two school bus workers saying student safety warrants late starts during bad weather, the School Committee asked for a community survey.

The School Department will ask parents and school staff what they think of two-hour late starts and early dismissals when conditions warrant.

Current policy says during winter storms the superintendent can call a snow day or have classes as usual.

Superintendent Bill Webster asked the committee Monday night to consider a policy giving him more flexibility on late starts, which could cut down on snow days or risky commutes.

Several other school departments, including Auburn, have late starts.

One day last year, Lewiston called a snow day because conditions were unsafe early in the morning, while Auburn called a two-hour delay, Assistant Superintendent Tom Jarvis. Lewiston had to make up the day, Auburn did not.

The committee was asked the same question in 2013 but declined to pass a late-start policy. A 2013 survey showed Lewiston staff and parents favored a two-hour delay during bad weather by 77 percent and 65 percent.

In a memo to the committee, Webster said he solicited feedback on late starts last week on Facebook and Twitter and received more than 100 responses. All but a couple supported the change.

Member Tom Shannon said he’s inclined to support late starts but wants community feedback that is not two years old. Shannon said he favors both late starts and early dismissals to ensure student safety, but he’d like to see a new survey done to get current community input.

Shannon said he’d like results back in time to make a policy change before the winter, “which according to our good friend Mr. (Peter) Geiger (editor of the Farmers’ Almanac) is going to be worse than last.” Shannon said he supports change. “I’m just concerned we may be acting on information that is stale.”

School Committee student representative Sophie Mitchell from Lewiston High School said she favors late starts. “As much as I love snow days, it makes sense to have late arrival. It’s a lot better because it is safer, and not a full day of school is lost.”

Parent Tina Hutchinson said Lewiston has a large population of students who walk to school. “I have a son who has to walk on Lisbon Street. He’s out before the sidewalks get plowed.” Lisbon and East Avenue “are deadly” in snowstorms.

If there was more time to get sidewalks open, it would be safer for students, Hutchinson said, favoring late starts and early dismissals.

Parent Heidi Sawyer asked how late starts would be handled during half days, and what kind of schedule would students have with a shorter day.

School bus driver Jim Derocher said during stormy weather at 5 a.m. “it gets real icy. The city does a great job downtown, but I have to drive out to the Ferry Road. Tell you what, they haven’t cleaned Ferry Road. They haven’t cleaned it at 2 in the afternoon.”

Late starts make a lot of sense for drivers, he said. “We don’t want to go sliding down” a street. “A bus doesn’t handle as well as a car. . . . Two hours makes a big difference.”

His wife, Diane Derocher, who is a bus monitor, agreed that late starts would be safer. “Last year a bus actually went down Pleasant Street this way (sideways) because it was so slippery,” she said. “It’s dangerous out there. The main concern is to have the children safe.”

Lewiston to broadcast committee meetings

LEWISTON – To make it easier for the public to see and hear what the Lewiston School Committee is doing, committee members voted unanimously Monday night to have meetings televised on the local Great Fall cable channel.

The Auburn School Committee also has its meetings televised.

The committee voted to direct Superintendent Bill Webster to work with Lewiston City Hall administrators to work out how and when meetings will be broadcast.

City Councilor Kristen Cloutier, who represents the city on the School Committee, said City Hall is about to renegotiate its contract with Time Warner, and officials could ask the cable company to supply equipment to broadcast meetings.

Committee member Tom Shannon said another way could be to change when and where meetings are held, from the School Department’s Dingley Building to City Hall, which is outfitted with broadcast equipment.

The Auburn School Committee meets in the Council Chambers of Auburn Hall on a different day than the council.

“I think the day has long gone by that the differences between the city and the School Department causes us to have our meetings in different buildings,” Shannon said. “We work very well with the City Council. If we can do it in the same room on a different day, I would be willing to do the accommodation to save money.”

Committee members asked if the video could be on the School Department’s Web page so people could watch at their convenience; and could the video make it easier for people to watch specific agenda items.

Cloutier said a video of meetings could be uploaded to the Web page.

Cloutier spoke in favor of broadcasting meetings. “We talk about doing the public’s work and it’s important that the public see us doing that work,” she said.

“That’s exactly what I was going to say,” member Linda Scott said. “This is something we need to do and as soon as possible.”

Before that discussion, Joe Julias, who heads information technology for the School Department, gave the committee ways to get meetings broadcast, with costs ranging from $18,000 to $27,199, or trying to piggyback on City Hall’s system.

The committee will get a report from Webster on how meetings will be broadcast.

Two years ago the committee declined to have meetings broadcast.

Monday night’s vote followed a year in which more parents have attended meetings with questions, including overcrowded classrooms, the Proficiency-Based Learning diploma, the state-mandated Smarter Balanced testing, and building a new elementary school.