Bemidji School Board Votes to Close J.W. Smith Elementary Amid Budget Crisis

Students were still splashing through sidewalk puddles of melted snow on their walk home from J.W. Smith Elementary when the Bemidji Area Schools Board of Education voted unanimously in a special meeting on March 2 to pursue the school's permanent closure at the end of this school year, the second elementary shuttered in Bemidji in five years.

The board's decision is driven by a projected $3.5 million deficit for the 2026-27 school year. District officials have framed the closure as a consolidation of K-3 elementary sites, but the stakes are unusually high at the 72-year-old building at 1712 America Ave. NW. Of the school's 200 students, more than 60% are Native American, 90% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and 26 are experiencing homelessness.

Principal Bruce Goodwin described a school that functions more like a tight-knit community than a building. It is not uncommon, he said, for him or other staff members to walk students a few blocks home, and the families rely on each other like family. J.W. Smith is the last public school in downtown Bemidji, a true neighborhood school where students live within walking distance, and Goodwin has said its location in the heart of the city is inseparable from what makes it special.

That proximity to Old Town is precisely what critics say makes closure so disruptive. The alternative K-3 schools are miles away: Lincoln Elementary is in Nymore, Northern Elementary is in Northern Township, Solway Elementary sits near the Clearwater County line, and Horace May Elementary is just north of the Hubbard County line. None are walkable from the neighborhoods J.W. Smith currently serves.

District officials, identified in KAXE reporting as Olson, have argued that leaving J.W. Smith open without finding other savings would force cuts elsewhere in K-3 programs. "If we don't do something, we're going to have to make a reduction of some sort in the K-3 to equate to the same kind of savings we're projected to see with J.W. Smith, that would result in higher class sizes," Olson said. The projected increases are steep: as many as 28 students per first-grade classroom, 30 per second grade, and between 33 and 35 in third grade. Declining enrollment is also a factor. "As we look and project out in the future, we're not seeing our K-3s growing anytime soon," Olson said.

Community opposition has been visible and emotional. More than a hundred people packed the boardroom at the district office on Feb. 23, with more crowding into the hallway outside. When the board met again on March 2, the crowd returned, many wearing "J.W. Strong" shirts and Boys and Girls Club merchandise. Some left the meeting in tears.

One speaker pleaded with the board directly: "Our hope and dream is that we push the pause button. I know that cuts still need to be made, but give it some more time. Give us an avenue to try to keep our doors open."

The closure would also end a Boys and Girls Club satellite program that opened inside the school in fall 2023. Andrea Kent, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of the Bemidji Area, told the board the branch has served more than 190 youth since it opened. "We appreciate your attention to this, and we would also support one more year," Kent said.

The decision is not yet final. Under state procedure, the district must advertise the planned closure for two weeks in its legal newspaper, the Bemidji Pioneer, before holding a public hearing. That hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, March 24. Before then, the district will hold a question-and-answer session on Tuesday, March 17 at 6 p.m. in the J.W. Smith gymnasium, with a presentation followed by open questions. The district has also scheduled a kindergarten open house at J.W. Smith for March 19, from 4 to 6 p.m., alongside open houses at its other elementary schools.