Sue Chase knows Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools. She grew up in the community. She graduated from Cass Lake High School. She taught in the district. Her kids attended school in the district and now her grandkids are making their way through.

“I’ve spent a lifetime living and working in this school district,” Chase, now district superintendent, said.

With that kind of longevity, she not only appreciates the community’s triumphs, but she understands its challenges. As a public school district situated on the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation in north-central Minnesota, Cass-Lake Bena educates a student population that is 98% Native American in a rural, resilient community. 

The unemployment and poverty rates in Cass Lake-Bena are greater than other parts of the state, and a majority of the district’s boundaries are not taxable. Those combined factors make paying for needed improvements challenging, if not seemingly impossible.

It’s one of the reasons why Chase so appreciates the funding the district received as part of Renew America’s Schools, a first-of-its-kind Department of Energy program funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The $500 million program aims to reduce energy costs, improve indoor air quality, and support healthier learning environments by promoting clean energy improvements at K-12 schools.

“Just over a year ago, we found out we were awarded the grant. That was the jumping point,” Chase said, noting that construction is expected to start in the spring semester of 2025, once engineering and architectural plans are completed.

The district’s five-year plan included multiple improvements, from new windows at its three schools to new boilers and upgrades to the HVAC systems. These are big projects for the small schools. The limited tax base aside, Chase said the district had just recently received approval from voters to raise taxes to specifically fund other school improvements, so while these additional initiatives were necessary, funding sources needed to be diversified. 

“In terms of benefits to the community, the grant funding is huge,” Chase said. “After passing a referendum and raising taxes, there’s no way we could have gone back to them and asked for more. They would have said no. Voters were tapped out.”

Working with the Region Five Development Commission (R5DC), an economic and community development organization, the district prioritized projects, submitted a grant request, and secured federal funding. 

“We’ve been working hand-in-hand with R5DC to get things done,” said Chase. “I knew as a district if we tried to fund the high-cost items we needed by saving for them, it would take us 30 years. The costs would have increased and then we’d have to start over and save again.”

Once all the improvements are implemented, Chase said the district expects to save about $75,000 per year. That kind of savings could support a salary for an educator, allow for the maintenance and upkeep of other vital projects, or go toward the development of an outdoor learning center, she said.

The savings give the district some flexibility and financial breathing room to meet other needs or just be better prepared for unexpected costs. 

All of this work is being done as the district builds a new elementary school and retrofits its old one to serve as an area learning center to benefit the community’s older, high school-aged students. Two large improvement projects at once would have been too much for the district to finance on its own, Chase said.

While taxpayer dollars are put to more efficient use with the improvements, students in the classrooms benefit from a healthier environment and will also have the opportunity to benefit from new learning experiences. The work the district plans to do with the grant funding will require outside support, and the Community Benefits Plan requires outside engineering and construction vendors to include internships for Cass Lake-Bena students.

“It’s not only generating improvements, but it’s going to generate some career opportunities,” Chase said. 

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, commonly called the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, was passed by Congress and signed into law in 2021.