RUMFORD — Superintendent Deborah Alden told Regional School Unit 10 directors Monday that the district would get far less state money than expected if it joins five other districts to form a Regional Service Center.

She said instead of the $293,677 estimated by the school district’s attorney, the Maine Department of Education sent information Wednesday that said the amount would be $46,098.

Alden added that she was not sure why the amount was so much less. She said she would keep directors informed of the situation “because it keeps changing.”

A state law implemented last year requires school districts to form Regional Service Centers to share services such as programming, business and transportation, and administration, or risk losing state funding.

In other business, Alden told directors a grant from the state Department of Education will provide funding for a new heating system at Pennacook Learning Center in Rumford. The center provides services to students and families in a therapeutic environment focused on individualized instruction and trauma-sensitive practices, according to its website.

The grant was awarded last year to help pay for restructuring the center as a regional kindergarten through grade 12 program with more appropriate spaces for improved therapeutic services. The grant also included money for professional development and clinical staff support and materials, Alden said.

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