Transparency, grassroots support credited in C-I referendum victory

CROSBY — "We're actually doing quite well. We're kind of skipping around here, jumping for joy, if I'm being honest."

That’s Crosby-Ironton Superintendent Rick Aulie, speaking by phone the day after Election Day 2025. The school district saw its third attempt at an operating levy in as many years pass: a resounding 68.5% of the more than 3,500 people who voted said yes.

Aulie took the helm just four months ago and faced a difficult task — convincing the community it had to vote yes. Without passage, the district would face another $1 million or more in cuts, on top of $1 million it’s already made. That would have included defunding all sports and extracurriculars and cutting six staff members.

But Aulie said the School Board was also explicit with what it would use tax dollars for if voters supported the measure. He said that transparency made a difference this time around.

"I think the messaging was outstanding and the School Board having that united front and everyone knowing the Board is sticking together on this, regardless of the outcome — I think it really got people's attention," Aulie said.

Chelsey Perkins

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KAXE

Aulie also credited grassroots support groups across the district who helped motivate people to get to the polls.

Sarah Nelson Katzenberger is a district parent and a member of Project Unite, a group of parents, teachers and business owners in Crosby-Ironton. She said it was important for this group to reach out to their networks and figure out who might be getting missed in the district’s messaging.

"I think we could see in leading up to this referendum, some of our past mistakes as a district in just the way things were communicated," Katzenberger said. " ... There were frustrations maybe with feeling like there was a lack of information in the past, or maybe just a distrust."

Both Aulie and Katzenberger pointed to high voter turnout as one impressive aspect of the election.

"Obviously, that support is going to ensure that, you know, we get to provide exceptional education opportunities for the kids at Crosby in school, so it's tremendous," Aulie said. "We would call this a 'Go, C-I, Go' moment for us in Ranger Nation."

Katzenberger noted the number of new voters registering at the polls and said she believed many were students voting in their first-ever election.

"We kind of kept checking in at the polling places, and there was like 69 new voter registrations in Crosby alone, which is the kind of numbers that you see in like a presidential election," she said. " ... I think that's always exciting just to see, you know, democracy at the most basic level play out. Crosby's a real success story."

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Sarah Nelson Katzenberger

A social media campaign idea the Project Unite group borrowed from Walker-Hackensack-Akeley also played a big role and took on a life of its own, Katzenberger said. WHA, by the way, also passed ballot questions Tuesday.

"It was probably close to 100 people that wrote basically why they voted yes," Katzenberger said. "And it was teachers, health care providers, people with kids in the district, people who don't have kids in the district, who just see the value of having a strong school in your community. So it was like a literal massive grassroots effort of anybody and everybody."

Katzenberger said she hopes districts that experienced failures this year reach out to them to learn more about their hard-fought battle and effort to put transparency at the forefront. One of those is neighboring Aitkin, which fell just over 200 votes shy of passing a capital bonding request to build a new elementary school.

"I hope that Aitkin reaches out to Rick [Aulie] and says, 'What did you do?' And that we can help come alongside them so that they can be successful as well," Katzenberger said.