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Recently there have been articles in this newspaper regarding the $26,220,000 bond referendum to build a new school, as well as the $6 million being spent in order to bring the air quality up to current mandated standards. Some people have questioned whether the taxpayers should be burdened with a $26 million plus interest debt over the next 30 years. The school board members, to this point, are not taking any questions as a whole from the district taxpayers. They are not exploring the question, "What would be best for the students of this district?"

All parents want a quality education for their children. All students deserve the opportunity to receive a quality education, which will give them the best chance for success in their future. There have been articles in the Pine Cone Press reporting the 'disturbing trend in failure rate among 7th and 8th graders' (Pine Cone Press-Citizen, March 21, 2015.) Reading and math scores have been low. In the August 25th, 2015 Pine Cone Press-Citizen, the graduation rate at Northland was said to be 88.6% in 2014, "the highest in the area". And yet, in the March 21, 2015 Pine Cone Press-Citizen, during the school board meeting, there was "some discussion of not allowing students with failing grades to advvance to the next grade level..." This sounds like a policy of 'social promotion', and makes me wonder if all of those students were really prepared to graduate.

Our school district is over 800 square miles. There are school districts bordering ISD 118 which may be geographically closer to some students' homes: Deer River, Hill City, Pine River-Backus, Walker, Crosby, and even the Croslake Community School, which is now K-12. At least four of these schools manage to educate their students at a lower cost than ISD 118. I might add that their facilities are also newer. And yet it seems that our school board members are not even considering the option of consolidation. Why? Maybe they are concerned more about keeping the school open for friends and relatives than for the welfare of the students. Maybe they need to 'think outside the box'.

The school board needs to step up to its obligation to do what is best for the students, and that obilgation includes exploring the option of consolidation with other surrounding school districts.[[In-content Ad]]

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