Cass Lake-Bena School District Regroups After Referendum Fails

The results of Tuesday’s election will send the Cass Lake-Bena School District back to the drawing board. Voters overwhelmingly voted down a $37.8 million referendum that would have built a new intermediate elementary school for grades 3-5 and renovate its current building for pre-k through second grade. For the district, the results come as a complete surprise.

The vote failed by a wide margin of 442 votes to 144. Now, the school district is left to re-evaluate its plans and how to maintain its current structure and programs.

With the results of the referendum now in, its back to the drawing board for the Cass Lake-Bena School District, meaning staff at the elementary school may have to get creative.

Elementary school principal Joshua Grover says that changes will need to be made in order to accommodate a growing number of incoming students. The school also faces challenges of wait lists for students and trying to provide a space for all Cass Lake-Bena children.

Overall, the school district says they will continue to move on and maintain the very best services they can offer its students.

In the Pillager school district, a bonding referendum in to build elementary school classrooms and an auditorium also failed.