Committee approves cost-sharing agreement for Lewiston Regional Technical Center

Lewiston Public Schools committee members voted Jan. 6 to approve a cooperative cost-sharing agreement for the Lewiston Regional Technical Center (LRTC) that apportions any operating shortfall among six member districts.

Superintendent Jake Legless described the proposal: "Anytime the cost for running LRTC exceeds the subsidy, the districts are going to divide up that responsibility in a prorated way based on an average of their kids over a 2 year window," he said, explaining the metric is intended to match payments to actual usage and smooth year-to-year swings.

The district has hosted a second satellite campus in Auburn for two years, which shifted some costs to Lewiston. Under the proposed agreement, seat allocations themselves remain unchanged; the prorated assessment is based on a two-year average of seats actually used, not merely allotted. Legless said that because Lewiston holds the most seats, it will likely pay the largest share.

Committee members asked for details about how large the shortfall can be and how often districts could be assessed. Legless said the total amount depends on the next year's state subsidy (ED279) and noted that last year initial calculations showed Lewiston was about $192,000 below subsidy before an adjustment increased the district's subsidy for that year.

A motion to approve the cooperative cost-sharing agreement was made and seconded; committee members voted unanimously in favor.

Legislative and administrative steps remain: all six districts must approve the same agreement for it to take effect. The committee recorded that if a future year results in no subsidy shortfall, the agreement would not produce additional charges for that year.