Cloquet board hears update on Northern Lakes Academy facility options, seeks legislative help for any new build

Superintendent Dr. Michael Carey told the Cloquet Public School District board on Oct. 13 that Northern Lakes Academy (NLA) continues to operate across two sites, a setup the district and cooperative view as administratively difficult and suboptimal for special education programming. He said the cooperative has a facility subcommittee that has explored using existing regional facilities or building a new site, but that the member districts lack the tax base to fund construction on their own.

"We really don't have the money and the tax base we would need to build a facility independently," Dr. Carey said, and he added the cooperative is pursuing legislative bonding to cover roughly half of the anticipated construction cost. He described the legislative outreach as ongoing and said NLA leadership recently met with a legislative tour to explain the program’s needs and setting.

Board members pressed for timing and the implications of neighboring-district consolidation talks. The superintendent said Carlton and Renshaw district conversations could affect cooperative arrangements; the activities committee has communicated an opinion to those districts and the State High School League rules and timing are under review to clarify athletic eligibility and logistics. No formal board action was taken; Leanne was identified as the district’s representative to the cooperative, with the superintendent attending when she cannot.

The board did not set policy or commit funds at the meeting. Dr. Carey emphasized that more legwork is required before any construction decision, and that any new facility would likely depend on legislative bonding and further cooperative-level decisions.

What’s next: the cooperative and the district will continue discussions; the board may see future requests if the subcommittee narrows options or if legislative funding prospects firm up.