LEWISTON — The School Committee voted unanimously Monday night to authorize a grant application for an alternative program for struggling eighth-graders.

Lewiston Middle School Principal Jake Langlais told committee members he’d like to apply for a Star Academy grant, a program he saw in action in Mississippi and Alabama where students were flourishing. He said he was encouraged about what the program could do for Lewiston students.

If the School Department receives the grant, the program would take 80 students who have completed the eighth grade but are not ready for the next level. Some have missed a lot of school or not had success. Some don’t do well at Lewiston High School, Langlais said.

They would receive more hands-on learning, repeat the eighth grade and learn an accelerated ninth-grade program in one year before starting 10th grade at Lewiston High School.

The program could help improve Lewiston’s high school competition rate, Superintendent Bill Webster said.

Cautioning that it’s still early in the school year, Langlais said he’s identified 58 eighth-graders at risk of failing. Lewiston has just under 400 eighth-graders.

Where the program would be housed is to be determined, but one possibility is the armory next to the middle school, Webster said.