Brainerd Dispatch: Leech Lake reservation breaks ground on new high school

U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee Member Al Franken, D-Minn., along with Congressional Native American Caucus Co-Chair Betty McCollum, D-Minn., and Rep. Rick Nolan D-Minn., took part in a ceremonial groundbreaking for a new high school Wednesday near Cass Lake.

The ceremony took place at the site of the future Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig High School on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation, an event they said is the culmination of their years-long fight to replace what has been a dangerously dilapidated school.

Earlier this year, after efforts from the three lawmakers, the Department of Interior granted nearly $12 million for repairs and improvements at Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig—a place where students and teachers have had to endure years of deplorable conditions, including inadequate construction, freezing temperatures, leaky ceilings and doors, faulty electrical and air systems, exposed wiring, mold, and sewer backups. Wednesday's groundbreaking was the first step in rebuilding the school, with the new modernized facility expected to be completed in 2017.