This week’s decision by the McLeod West School Board isn’t a death-knell, but it’s certainly a plea for action.

On Aug. 13 the McLeod West School Board voted to close down an antiquated portion of its Brownton facility. Built in 1922, the wing that housed 9-12 classrooms suffered from damage to interior and exterior walls and was deemed unsafe by a structural engineer a month ago.

On Wednesday, the School Board decided to expand a tuition agreement with Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop that was originally inked last year to allow McLeod West to take electives at GFW. This year, all of McLeod’s 9-12 students will attend their first four classes, as well as lunch, at GFW’s Winthrop site. Winthrop, in Sibley County, is about 13 miles south of Brownton.

Tony Boyer, the part-time superintendent of the embattled school district, said even tougher decisions are in store.

“This district is in a very tenuous situation,” said Boyer, who was contracted for part-time services in February. “For the future, there’s a lot of work to be done.”

During the past decade, residents of the McLeod West district have defeated a handful of bond referendums for a new school. Two years ago, McLeod West closed its facility in Stewart. Afterward, declining enrollments and a constant string of budget and staff reductions only intensified an already contentious atmosphere.

Now, Boyer said, the district is in statutory operating debt — operating at a loss of at least $750,000 per year — and is precluded by the state from seeking a bond referendum. Boyer said the only option left is to hold an operating referendum in November.

And while Boyer said the community has largely put animosities aside to rally around the issue, he also said a failed referendum will cripple any future the district has.

“It will be the end of the district as we know it,” Boyer said.

School closings, especially in small communities, are nearly always met with bitter discussion and painful decisions. And in many cases, economic hardship awaits those rural cities that lose their schools.

The situation is no different in Brownton, population 807 in the 2000 census. Mayor Curt Carrigan said the consequences of not making a decision sooner on the outdated school are now becoming apparent.

“The big issue when the referendums were defeated seemed to be increasing taxes,” Carrigan said. “But if people get their wish and the school district is dissolved, they’ll still be paying taxes to somebody.”

In the case that a school district dissolves, school officials from the surrounding area would meet to redraw boundaries to include the dissolved district. Residents within a district’s boundaries would then be subject to that district’s tax impacts.

Carrigan said it would be a shame to close the McLeod West School District just when it is on the cusp of change. He praised the district’s new leadership, including Boyer, and noted the southward expansion of Twin Cities suburbs is at Brownton’s doorstep.

“It would be great if the school could function for a few more years until the population moves in from the metro area,” he said. “Population growth isn’t lessening. Eventually, it will get here.”

Boyer said this year’s McLeod West High School students will still receive diplomas from their home school and still have a full roster of athletic and extracurricular activities, including prom.

McLeod West has about 90 high school students. Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop Supt. Stephen Malone said his district could take all of them, but he expects at least a few to open enroll elsewhere.

“Our challenge will be to revise our schedule to accommodate the extra students,” said Malone, who noted that McLeod’s students will register for classes Monday. “But we’ve had a long history of successful cooperation with McLeod West.”