BUCKFIELD — The RSU 10 board overwhelmingly authorized Chairman Jerry Wiley to sign an application for a federal Race to the Top Grant that could mean up to $5.5 million for the district over four or five years.

The grant, which would fund teacher training, staff and student technology, and a multitude of other educational components, is focused on personalized learning for all students.

Assistant Superintendent and curriculum director Gloria Jenkins has been working on the extensive application for several months with partners RSU 3 in Thorndike, the Auburn School Department, the Gray/New Gloucester district and RSU 18 in Oakland.

“Race to the Top was exactly what we’ve been working on to personalize what we do with students,” she said.

The total amount of funding available for the five districts is nearly $26 million. The share each district could receive is based on student enrollment. Jenkins said RSU 10 has 22 percent of the total number of students in the five districts.

The grant application must be submitted by Oct. 30.

Prior to voting on the grant application, the board was required, as part of the application, to approve a side agreement with the Western Foothills Education Association for development of a teacher evaluation tool that includes student achievement.

Jenkins said a group of teachers will undergo special training next week, and every few months thereafter, on mass customized learning. Staff in RSU 10 often hold workshops on Wednesdays on the new way of educating students. With funding from the grant, if approved, additional teacher work days will most likely be required.

Representative Betty Barrett said she does not want teachers replaced by substitutes to undergo training.

“I’d like to see this done when school is not in session. I do not want to see substitutes. The kids aren’t learning,” Barrett said.

Jenkins agreed and wants to see training during the summer or during an extended school year.

Superintendent Tom Ward said the change to individualized learning under the mass customized learning program won’t happen overnight.

“It will take four or five years. The Race to the Top grant and training is perfect timing,” he said.

He said some teachers are already using customized learning on a limited basis in their classrooms.

“This will affect the drop-out rate drastically,” he said.

In answer to a question by board member Peter Zanoni about the training of college students to teach in the classroom using customized learning, Ward said the University of Maine at Farmington and other colleges are already instructing future teachers on the new teaching method.

He said the RSU 10 staff is undergoing many changes and programs now, including the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program, and the Response to Intervention program, which are now in place in all schools.

“These and mass customized learning will wrap well with the Race to the Top,” he said.