AUGUSTA — A grant program that funds service-learning projects in schools will double in size this fall after the Maine Department of Education relinquishes its role managing the grant.

The Maine Commission for Community Service last week started overseeing Maine’s share of the federal Learn and Serve America grant program. In service learning students learn class lessons by designing and carrying out community service projects.

Two districts now split the $100,000 grant, which is doled out over three years. In the fall, the community service commission will open the grant competition to two additional districts, using a corporate contribution to expand the initiative, said Michael Ashmore, the commission’s grant programs officer.

The grant program will also shift from a focus on community economic development to the so-called STEM disciplines: science, technology, engineering and math.

Regional School Unit 67 – which serves Lincoln, Chester and Mattawamkeag – and RSU 34, which serves Old Town, Alton and Bradley, were recipients of the grants.

The Maine Commission for Community Service, a division of the Maine State Planning Office, will use a $35,000 donation from Time Warner Cable to expand the grant program, Ashmore said.

That money will allow two additional districts to receive approximately $15,000 for a year, akin to the award sizes in RSUs 34 and 67. It will also allow the commission to fund a handful of smaller service-learning initiatives in other school districts.