RSU 9 leaders angered by state rejection of student homelessness grant 18%
By Ben Hanstein10%
7/31/2026, 7:59:09 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 21 faulty reasoning types, including Optimism Bias, Appeal to Emotion, and Pessimism Bias, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 15% saturation with 108 hits. Analysis detected 691 faulty-reasoning hits from 718 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 27.4% and a BS Rank of 18% (22,743 of 27,735 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 82.00% of the article peer group.
Regional School Unit 9 board directors vote on an article at the May 26 budget meeting.
Photo by Ben Hanstein.
FARMINGTON — Regional School Unit 9 Superintendent Christian Elkington said Tuesday he was “disgusted” that the district was swiftly rejected for a state grant to help students experiencing homelessness.
The district recently learned that it was denied a Student Homelessness Prevention Program grant from the Maine State Housing Authority.
“I have to continue to say that I’m saddened,” Elkington said.
“What was really an outstanding grant, that they could decide so quickly.
I’m shocked that the turnaround was three or four days and we got an answer.”
The district requested $180,000 to support students experiencing homelessness or housing instability.
A June report from Amanda Clark, the district’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act coordinator, showed that 61 students qualified for services for the 2025-26 school year.
Over the past two years, the district has spent nearly $22,000 to support unhoused students and their families through a Preventing Student Homelessness Program grant.
However, those and other funds are dwindling.
The district had hoped to secure a MaineHousing grant through the Student Homelessness Prevention Program.
Elkington said losing that funding creates a financial hole for an already tight budget.
"We’re going to have to look and see if we can find any private organizations who might be willing to support us," Elkington said.
"If we wanted to use district funds, we’d need to come back to the board to do that, and that’s not necessarily an expectation of what people voted on in the budget."
MaineHousing's rejection letter stated the funding opportunity was "significantly oversubscribed" and that resources went to districts that best met the grant's intentions.
“It was insulting to look at that last bullet point,” Richard Ruhlin, an RSU 9 board member from Industry, said, referencing a line in the letter.
“It made it appear that we were noncompliant with a (request for proposals) requirement.”
Ruhlin said he was “stunned” the district did not receive funding.
Elkington agreed, saying, “That’s why we want to really look, because I take exception to that.”
The district will eventually receive the applicants’ ratings, he said, which will help evaluate how its proposal compared to other districts.
In other matters, the board began its meeting this week with organizational votes for the new year, first reelecting Director Gwen Doak of Wilton as chair.
Director J.
Wayne Kinney was approved as vice chair, while Ruhlin was approved as the board’s parliamentarian and representative for the Maine School Board Association’s Annual Delegate Assembly.
Director J.
Jeffrey Barnum of New Vineyard was voted in as the alternate to the MSBA’s annual meeting.
All of the votes were unanimous, with the elected directors themselves abstaining.
One of Doak’s first actions as chair was to welcome Director Doug Hiltz of Wilton and Director Ruth Gauvin of Farmington to the board.
The board also unanimously approved a plan to house some students attending Mt.
Blue High School classes through the district’s International Student Program in a dormitory on the campus of the University of Maine at Farmington.
The program previously used local families to house students.
That will continue, but the dorm space will allow for an expanded program.
“With home stays, you only have so many families that you can have within a community,” Lisa Dalrymple, chair of the World Language Department and director of the International Student Program, said.
“It’s a matter of size and what we can offer.”
The program expects to bring in 15 students next year.
Eight will stay with local families, and seven are projected to live in the dormitory with a supervisory adult.
Two floors, plus a basement with a laundry room, will be leased from UMF for $98,000 per year.
The program is projected to be financially sustainable through fees collected from incoming students, including a $14,500 boarding fee.
Additionally, the dormitory could be utilized for other programs beyond the academic year, including summer programs and cultural exchange events.
After asking questions about financial support, potential liabilities and security for the dormitory, board directors unanimously approved allowing the initiative to move forward.
While the program expects 15 students next year, it plans to expand to 20 for the 2027-28 school year.
Speakers
4speakers40%attributed speech429writer words
Selected voice
100%flagged-word coverageRichard Ruhlin
51 attributed words18% of attributed speech31% writer coverage
Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.
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