LEWISTON — When students are given suspensions longer than 10 days, or when they are expelled, the school district has a responsibility to provide for their education, said Superintendent Bill Webster.

Before 2013, Lewiston used to hire tutors to work with students who had been kicked out of school. Meeting off school property, sometimes the students did not show. Sometimes the tutors didn’t show. It lacked structure, Webster said.

“No students were successful in that program,” he added.

In 2013, Lewiston started the in-house suspension program with regular hours and staff at the Dingley administrative building. On average, five or six out of Lewiston’s more than 5,000 students are expelled at any given time while another five or six are serving long-term suspensions, Webster said.

Since the Dingley program began, the results are better, Webster said.

“Are they all successful? No,” he said. “But every year there, are a handful of students that the program helps them improve their lives. I’ve gotten hugs from students at graduation who were able to be successful.”

Auburn has a similar program, the Suspension Intervention Program at the Police Activities League Center, started by Auburn Police Chief Phil Crowell.

It provides educational programming and counseling for students kicked out of school. In Auburn, any suspended Auburn Middle School or Edward Little High School student must participate in the program.

The PAL center is also a place other youths go after school to play or learn. Police officers frequently drop in.

Program director Tijjani Abacha mentors students. The Auburn School Department provides an educational technician who helps students with school work.

After their suspensions are served and students return to school, they continue to receive mentoring from Abacha to keep them on track for graduation.

In a 2017 Sun Journal story about ELHS graduate Clifford Griffin III, who credited the program for helping him, Abacha said he makes regular visits at the middle and high schools to meet with students.