UMFK-hosted recovery high school to open as a rural pilot with residential week model

Peter Karen, coordinator of innovative practice and community outreach for the Valley Unified Education Service Center, told the University of Maine System Board of Trustees that planners aim to open the Upper Saint John Valley Recovery High School on the UMFK campus in August 2026.

The program will be a small, pilot recovery high school designed to serve ninth through twelfth graders who are in recovery from substance use disorders or have co‑occurring behavioral health needs. "We will be Maine's first recovery high school," Karen said, describing a model that combines academic instruction with daily recovery supports and a unique "school week in residence" component for students who live far from campus.

Karen told trustees the project secured a Maine Recovery Council grant that covers about 75% of the annual per‑pupil investment for a two‑year period (he stated the grant amount as $616,000). Sending school units will be responsible for roughly 25% of the per‑pupil cost for residential seats. The program plans to enroll up to 14 students at any one time: up to eight school‑week residents and up to six day‑only participants.

The school will be hosted at UMFK with fiscal sponsorship from SAD 27. Academic and recovery learning spaces will be housed in the Hensler House, while residential students will use Powell Hall. Karen said the program will employ five staff funded by the grant — including a recovery counselor (to provide clinical supervision), a fully certified teacher, an educational technician trained as recovery coaches, and dorm parents trained as recovery coaches. He said the recovery counselor position was being interviewed for that week.

Community partnerships are central to the model. Karen named collaborators including juvenile community corrections officers, Department of Health and Human Services case workers, Fish River Rural Health clinics, Northern Maine Medical Center and Holton Regional Hospital for medical and behavioral health supports, and local prevention educators and the Hope and Justice Project for life‑skills and wellness programming.

On eligibility and enrollment, Karen said students will be referred through sending schools and community providers; students must have completed treatment or be actively enrolled in treatment to qualify. He emphasized that participation is voluntary and that the program will use a restorative approach to relapse, allowing students to return to the program if they need additional support.

Karen described the program as a pilot that could inform similar efforts in rural regions elsewhere. He said the planners have applied for additional congressionally directed spending through a senator’s office and have drafted state legislation to seek further multi‑year funding. "We always intended that the Upper St. John Valley Recovery High School would function as a pilot project," he told trustees.

Trustees asked about capacity, tribal and wellness‑court partnerships, long‑term funding stability and supports for students returning to sending high schools. Karen said outreach to tribal and wellness partners is underway and affirmed the school will accept Native American students. He said the recovery counselor will coordinate transition planning with sending schools, guidance counselors and families.

The presentation included specifics on facilities and student life: single‑occupancy rooms, supervised family‑style dining in Nowlin Dining Hall, use of UMFK athletic facilities, and staff supervision for students moving on campus. Karen said dorm parents would provide 24/7 availability rather than constant awake staffing and that the project anticipates most students will stay about one academic year, with a minimum of one semester.

Next steps are staffing, finalizing facility preparation and continuing to field referrals. No formal board action was required for the presentation; trustees thanked presenters and moved on to the remainder of the agenda.