FARMINGTON — Regional School Unit 9 is reviewing how possible changes to two sources of federal support could affect district technology services and instructional programs, including costs that might eventually have to be covered locally.

Superintendent Christian Elkington outlined the district’s reliance on the federal E-Rate program in a Sept. 14 memorandum to the RSU 9 board of directors. The memo details five years of E-Rate purchases, the services the district receives through Networkmaine and the possible operational and financial effects if E-Rate funding were reduced or eliminated.

The district is also monitoring possible changes involving federal education funding under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Elkington said in a Sept. 21 response that RSU 9 is receiving $1.14 million in ESEA funding for the 2026-27 school year, most of it through Title I.

The amount is about the same as the district has received for three consecutive years, he said.
The money supports instructional intervention positions across the district, including six positions focused on mathematics and eight focused on literacy.

“Since the funds have not increased in three years we have had to supplement with some local funds due to increases in salaries and benefits,” Elkington said. He said the district is concerned about the possibility of changes in how federal education money is distributed.

“Anytime the rules or process may change for receiving federal funds you are always concerned,” Elkington said. He said there has been discussion about moving away from a distribution formula based on factors including poverty, free and reduced-price meal figures, and the percentage of economically disadvantaged students toward a competitive grant process that could include additional requirements.

“By nature competitive grants have winners and losers and so this worries us,” Elkington said.
The ESEA issue is separate from E-Rate, which helps schools and libraries pay for eligible internet connectivity and network infrastructure costs.

The Sept. 14 memorandum also details the services RSU 9 receives through Networkmaine and why replacing them could be costly and complicated.

Networkmaine provides transport services and internet access, content filtering, continuous network monitoring, problem tracking and resolution, management of transport and internet service providers, router upgrades, Domain Name Services and protection against distributed denial-of-service attacks.

Determining what equivalent services would cost without E-Rate is difficult because Networkmaine provides services beyond those of a standard internet provider, according to the memo. Replacing Networkmaine could require RSU 9 to contract with several specialized vendors.

Networkmaine reported just under $3 million in baseline E-Rate revenue in its most recent annual report cited by the district. If that funding disappeared, Networkmaine would likely continue operating but would need to recover the lost revenue from participating institutions. RSU 9’s share could not be calculated simply by dividing the amount among participants because schools, libraries and municipalities have substantially different network needs.

The district has also used E-Rate to support network infrastructure purchases during the past five years. One exception came in 2024, when networking switches were purchased through the State of Maine Cybersecurity Performance Grant rather than E-Rate because of an application submission error. The district included those purchases in its five-year analysis to provide a fuller picture of its ongoing infrastructure needs.

The memorandum does not provide a specific estimate for what RSU 9 would have to pay if E-Rate support disappeared.

For the district, the two funding issues present different potential effects. Changes to E-Rate could increase technology and network costs, while changes to ESEA funding could affect instructional intervention positions now supported in part with federal money.

The district is continuing to assess how either change could affect future spending and the amount that would need to be supported locally.

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