During the public comment portion of the Jan. 5 Lewiston School Committee meeting, Lewiston resident Lisa Jones urged the committee to discard or retake a flag vote from the previous meeting, saying she and other community members observed what she described as an improper vote-counting process.

"I was present when that vote took place, and many community members watched from home," Jones said, alleging that the Ward 5 representative initially raised his hand to vote in the affirmative, was counted by the chair, then lowered his hand and did not raise it in opposition. Jones said the superintendent and the chair disagreed on whether that member had voted and that a second vote was called; she asked that the committee redo the flag vote when the committee is again at full membership.

Jones said she had previously emailed her committee representative about the concern but felt compelled to raise it in public comment after speaking with other community members who shared the perception that the voting process "did not follow the established or expected procedure." She asked the committee to "completely scrap the flag vote from the last committee meeting" or to redo it when a full committee is present.

Committee staff restated the public comment policy (BEDH) and did not provide a response to Jones's allegation during the recorded segment. The transcript contains Jones's allegation but does not record any formal motion or committee directive to reexamine or reopen the prior flag vote during this meeting.

The committee noted that Ward 5 is vacant and a City Council nomination was expected; any formal review that depends on a full committee would be scheduled once the committee is fully seated.