People are voting right now on the St. Louis County Schools referendum that will fund a consolidation and construction plan in this rural Iron Range-area district. District 2142 covers Albrook, Babbitt-Embarrass, Cherry, Cook, Cotton, Orr and Tower-Soudan, along with a vast swath of locations that once had schools many years ago but no longer do. That later fact is one of the reasons why the beleaguered giant has been unable to pass a bond referendum in the last several years and why the district is now trying to reorganize to survive in the 21st century.
Though there is disagreement on this characterization, district officials describe this referendum today as existential. If it passes, they exist in some new form. If it fails, they will have to look at dissolving the district and closing some of the schools — perhaps forming a new district and perhaps not. Parents, students, educators and political leaders will be watching the results tonight very closely.
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