On Wednesday, Dec. 3, the Bengal’s Purr staff had a scheduled press conference with Lewiston Superintendent Tim Sperber. During the interview, Sperber shared information about his family, Career, and the end of pay-to-play.
The staff learned a great deal about Sperber that they had not known before. Sperber has been married for 28 years, has two children, and is now 60 years old. Notably, his only career has been in education. Sperber attended teaching college in Montana and served as principal at Whitman Elementary for nine years. He was also a teacher for 15 years, teaching English, history, and weight training, and served as a football coach for several years. Sperber expressed that his 5th-grade teacher was the one who made him realize he wanted to become a teacher.
Sperber believes that his job is to answer to the entire community — parents, students, teachers, and coaches. He said his job consists of a little bit of everything: “Teacher, coach, sometimes nurse.”
He had previously planned to retire in June 2025, but was then recommended to apply for the position of superintendent. He didn’t seriously consider this new opportunity until February 2025. After the application and hiring process, Sperber then signed a contract to stay with the district for at least three more years.
Sperber says the best part about being superintendent is being able to visit different schools and “do whatever” is needed. He enjoys adapting to each grade by doing what they are doing in their classrooms. For example, one day he’ll be in a kindergarten classroom playing with blocks, and then he’ll visit a high school and do something completely different. Sperber discussed how he believes the schools could always do more to foster a positive environment.
“[The word] ‘bullying’ is overused; sometimes it’s just being mean,” Sperber said.
With this, he also discussed his hopes that Lewiston schools will continue to explore ways to utilize the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports system (PBIS). Part of this includes being positive and complimenting someone to help reinforce better behavior from that person.
Overall, Sperber discussed his passion for being an educator, especially as an elementary school teacher, and how he loves working with everyone in the schools.
He also touched on the LHS “Pay to Play” policy a bit, mentioning that he was the one who originally initiated it. He was the LHS athletic director in 2008, when he decided to initiate Pay to Play because the school needed the money. The Lewiston School Board voted this school year to eliminate Pay to Play because they felt that parents already paid a significant amount of money for their children, making paying for sports unnecessary.
As for the Golden Throne games, Sperber said he believes (even knows) Lewiston will win the Throne again this year. He said he is very passionate about believing LHS will win again.
