Koochiching Co. community attempts to prevent school closure with GoFundMe

DULUTH, MN. (Northern News Now) - A Northern Minnesota community is fighting to keep its school from closing.

The South Koochiching - Rainy River School District only has two K-12 schools: Northome and Indus.

They’re located about 80 miles from each other.

Last week, we reported the school board had voted to explore closing the Indus school to make up for budget losses.

According to the superintendent, the district is facing a current budget deficit of $400,000.

The closure would leave some rural students and their families to travel long distances just to get to the closest school.

Opponents of the closure mention Indus School’s quality education, one-on-one teaching, and extracurricular organizations.

Now, Indus community members are pushing to keep the school open.

They’ve created a GoFundMe hoping to raise $50,000 dollars.

They say the money would be used to cover legal expenses, mailings, and other expenses to fight the proposed closure.

The district is holding a public hearing about the proposed closure on April 3.

The school board could make its final decision after that.