A regional school unit is a type of school district in Maine.
They were created starting in 2008 pursuant to a change in Maine Law that attempted to save on administrative costs by consolidating Maine's many school districts into larger districts. This change was championed by Governor John Baldacci. The first school district to form "RSU1 is made up of bath schools, phippsburg elementary, and woolwich school Despite a deadline of January 30, 2009, many voters rejected their local school consolidation plans, citing issues such as loss of local control and higher costs due to bringing lower-paid teachers up to parity. For example, Brewer faced an annual loss of $244,000 in state subsidies for rejecting the consolidation plan, but potentially a loss of $2.74 million in increased salaries over the first 3 years if it had been approved.
As of November 20, 2009, 74 RSUs had been formed.