Rural Maine School District To Launch Recovery High School Model For Students With Substance Use Disorders

April 23, 2026

The Maine School Administrative District #27 in rural Maine is preparing to offer a publicly funded Recovery High School that will provide housing, education, and treatment for up to eight school-week, in-residence students and up to six school-day only pupils who are in recovery from substance use disorder (SUD) or are affected by SUD and who have one or more co-occurring disorders, according to a representative of the school district. The school is slated to start serving students in August 2026.

Students admitted to the program will be required to attend for at least one semester, with most projected to remain enrolled for a full academic year. Students may request approval to extend enrollment beyond one year.

The school will be funded through a combination of grant funding from opioid settlement funds managed by the Maine Recovery Council and tuition payments from each student’s sending school unit. Grant funding will cover approximately 75% of the annual per-pupil cost, with tuition accounting for the remaining 25%.

The school services are provided by Maine School Administrative District #27 in collaboration with the University of Maine at Fort Kent and under the direction of the Valley Unified Education Service Center Alternative Schooling program. School-week, in residence participants will be housed at the University of Maine at Fort Kent campus in a multi-use building that once served as a residence hall but no longer houses college students.Parent or guardian involvement in each student’s sobriety and recovery planning during enrollment is required.

Eligible students include:

• Youth with SUD who have completed or are currently enrolled in substance use treatment and have maintained sobriety for a sustained period of time (e.g., 30 days)
• Youth without a diagnosis of SUD who use substances to cope with co-occurring disorders and who have completed or are currently enrolled in therapy for their co-occurring disorders and must demonstrate a commitment to discontinuing substance use through a sustained period of abstinence.
• Youth considered “affected others” because their mental and emotional health and well-being are adversely affected by the substance use of one or more family members

According to the Maine Recovery Council, the selection process for the rural recovery high school began in May 2024 with a call for letters of intent tied to a funding opportunity that includes treatment, recovery support, and harm reduction. Responses were used to assess community needs and narrow the pool of applicants.

In total, the Council received 220 project submissions via the letter of intent process. Of those 220 projects, 168 scored above average and were invited to submit a full grant application by October 25, 2024. By the deadline, 129 applications were received, reviewed, and scored. Ultimately, funding was approved for 43 projects, with several other projects tabled while the council sought additional information. The recovery high school project was selected for funding at the Council’s meeting on March 13, 2025.

The status of the recovery high school project was described in Rural Maine Tests Recovery School Model as Youth Overdoses Climb on April 10, 2026, by Governing (accessed April 22, 2026).

For more information, contact: Peter C. Caron, Coordinator of Innovative Practice and Community Outreach, Valley Unified Education Service Center (serving MSAD #27, MSAD #33, and the Madawaska School Department), 84 Pleasant Street, Fort Kent, Maine 04743; 207-834-3166; Fax: 207-834-3395; Email: pcaron@vuesc.org.