Education funding

The Iron Range offers a window into communities reckoning with how their identities must change for the betterment of future generations as schools increasingly collaborate.

Because of low free-and-reduced lunch numbers, the Fosston school district no longer qualifies for a fresh fruits and vegetables program for elementary students.

New state aid covers part of the operating levy for school districts that have lots of cabins. Some districts say they'll offset the levy if voters approve it, meaning more money for the school, while taxes stay the same or go down.

The School Board unanimously passed its budget, leaving a little more than $136,000 of cash flow available in its general fund.

As Bemidji Area Schools mediates with its bargaining units after a spring of budget cuts, Bemidji bus drivers and their supporters urged the Board for their support.

More than 350 educators and community members assembled along Oak Street to call attention to the unsettled union contracts ahead of the May 11, 2026, School Board meeting.

The Permanent School Fund uses revenue from the sale of timber, minerals and land on 2.5 million acres of School Trust Lands to fund public school districts and charter schools around Minnesota.

A bill authored by Rep. Ben Bakeberg, R-Jordan, would give the Blue Ribbon Commission more time to recommend cuts and eliminate the automatic funding cut.

A motion to close and consolidate the Bemidji school, dispersing students to other area elementaries serving kindergarten through third grade, failed to pass on a 3-3 vote.

The district estimates closing the school, which serves second and third grade, will save it at least $516,000 as it works to address a $2 million budget shortfall.