Lancaster School advances projects backed by grants, donations, rebates

By Jack Waters
The Lancaster School Board announced a few financial windfalls during the Wednesday, Feb. 11 regular meeting. These will go toward planned projects, in the form of grants, community donations and an unexpected rebate from Otter Tail.
A $40,000 cybersecurity grant from the Minnesota Department of Education was issued for security upgrades throughout the school.
“When we looked into what it was going to cover, it covered a lot of stuff that we were going to work on anyway. For instance, we wanted to put in new cameras throughout the whole building,” Superintendent Nicole Thompson said.
The initial plan is to fund new security cameras, door readers with a ringing bell, and student monitoring software for student computers.
The grant has specific limitations, so they will also replace all keypads, and upgrade cameras. It also extends the possibility for new PA systems, antivirus software and cybersecurity insurance if there is money left after the other projects are completed.
The district also received an unexpected but welcome surprise rebate of $30,000 from Otter Tail Power for a boiler project that was previously thought to be ineligible.
“We’re going to use it for things that we already know we’re working on. So some of our money will go toward a bus that needs a new engine. And the difference after that we’d throw to the baseball project,” said Thompson.
Community donations are also being applied to planned projects, including $60,000 donated by Fred Wilebski for the school window replacement project and $10,000 coming courtesy of the Jerry Wilson Memorial Run, to be used for the baseball field project.

To read the whole story, see the Feb. 18, 2026, edition of the Kittson County Enterprise