The fiscally troubled McLeod West School District is set to consolidate with three other districts, including Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop.

A vote on establishing new school district boundaries could come as early as May.

Because of mounting operating debt and enrollment declines, the McLeod West School Board voted in August to close the aged high school portion of the district’s Brownton facility.

This school year, McLeod West high school students are attending classes at GFW’s Winthrop site, about 13 miles from Brownton.

In addition to Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop, the consolidation would include the Buffalo Lake-Hector and Glencoe-Silver Lake school districts.

Each of the four districts must vote in favor of the consolidation plan for it to be implemented.

If the vote fails in any one of the districts, McLeod West will become involuntarily dissolved, and new district boundaries would be determined by the McLeod County Board of Commissioners.

If the proposed consolidation occurs, the McLeod West district would be split three ways, effectively ending its existence.

McLeod West faculty and staff would be reassigned within the other districts, and the school board would have representation on the other districts’ boards.

McLeod West Supt. Tony Boyer said the district operating debt is expected to reach $1.7 million when the school year ends in June.

The debt will be paid through a reorganizational debt levy over five years, and will stay within the confines of the existing McLeod West district.

During the past decade McLeod West district voters have repeatedly defeated bond referendums for a new school.

Though Brownton’s population has dwindled to about 800, referendum backers have maintained that building a new school would be prudent because the area is on the cusp of southward expansion of the Twin Cities metro area.