MACHIAS – Washington County took a step toward becoming Maine’s leader in distance education Thursday when 38 schools took delivery of fully interactive video-conferencing equipment.

Once the equipment is hooked up, every public school in Washington County – including the University of Maine at Machias and the Washington County Technical College – will be connected by a system that includes high-speed Internet access.

The 16 children at Wesley Elementary School would be able to take virtual field trips to museums in Boston; students in one school will be able to take advanced placement courses in another school; and teachers in Eastport will be able to tune in to teacher training sessions at the university in Machias.

“To me, this is the best use of our resources, particularly in these economic times,” said Betty Jordan, director of the Washington County Consortium for School Improvement.

The consortium, comprising superintendents from all Washington County schools, obtained a $549,718 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to put the program into place.

The state Department of Education has developed a program to connect all high schools in the state , but Jordan said Washington County is the first in Maine to connect all of its schools from kindergarten through college.

In a rural county the size of Rhode Island – where some schools are down on the end of peninsulas – distance learning is expected to be a way to offer all students the same opportunities, she said.

The Washington County Consortium has been using fully interactive video conferencing equipment for the past year in its Down East Community Learning Centers – a federally-funded after-school and summer learning program that serves 600 students from Union 102, SADs 77 and 19, and Maine Indian Education.