RSU 13, the school district that oversees Oceanside High School and Middle School in Rockland, as well as Cushing, Gilford Butler, Thomaston Grammar and Owls Head  elementary schools, will vote tonight whether to accept a $327,466 distance learning and telemedicine grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program.

The grant, according RSU 13 Superintendent John McDonald, will be directed toward upgrading the school’s internet system. This means opening up the ceiling tiles, hauling out the old copper wires and installing new fiber optic cable.

The goal is to use the money to purchase video-telepresence equipment to enable real-time distance learning among RSU 13 schools, the Chewonki Foundation in Wiscassset, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland, the Catawba Indian Nation, the Monhegan Island School and central Lincoln County schools (AOS 93) to provide rural students, educators and adult learners with access to science, technology, engineering, art and math classes.

According to the USDA’s program site, the Distance Learning and Telemedicine program helps rural communities use telecommunications to connect to each other and to the world, “overcoming the effects of remoteness and low population density.”

For example, the site said, the program can link teachers and medical service providers in one area to students and patients in another. Click here to read the entire list of the 2016 grant recipients.

The Catawba Indian Nation is in South Carolina.

Grant writers were RSU 13 Finance Director Pete Orne, Technology Director Bruce Johnson, and McDonald.

Oceanside High School, on Broadway, in Rockland, is currently serviced by wireless internet, but it is limited in scope, given the network speed, said McDonald.

The grant will allow the district to extend from the existing fiber network on Broadway, and run it throughout the school.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the McLain School, at 28 Lincoln Street in Rockland. McLain School is home to the office headquarters of RSU 13.

After tending to the grant business, the board will then move into a workshop to discuss Owls Head School as part of the Schools of Our Future Project. A discussion is underway to combine elementary schools in RSU 13 with the construction of a new building.

The Schools of Our Future project got off the ground last year with the intent to maximize efficient use of resources through reorganization of certain school facilities.

In June, the district released a report it had requisitioned from the private company, Siemens, for an energy performance review of all the buildings in RSU 13. The report listed the facility issues, and suggested remediation, such as lighting, ventilation, and energy efficiency improvements.