Paynesville Area Schools has been working on facility improvement planning for over two years. The process began in spring 2017, when approximately 150 community member participants shared input about facility needs. This group of community members developed a list of priorities for the school district. The numbers below represent the total votes gathered by the group in descending order. The complete list includes:

• Gym / Field house …………………... 209
• Update Current Facilities ……...….142
• Technical Education Updates ..…124
• IT Programs / Robotics ……………. 96
• Gymnastics …………………………...... 81
• Wrestling Room …………………….... 59
• Softball Updates ……………………... 37
• New School …………………………..... 34
• Elementary Kitchen ………………... 32
• Greenhouse ……………………………. 25
• Security …………………………………... 20
• Interior Facelift ……………………….. 18
• HS Media Center Remodel ……... 14
• Update School Grounds …………… 9
• Update Current Gym …………….…. 7
• Walking Track ……………………….…. 5
• Collaborative Spaces ………..……… 4

Throughout 2018 this group continued their work, which culminated in an April 2018 community presentation regarding a proposed plan for a facility upgrade. The feedback associated with this presentation can be viewed here. Modifications were made to the plan to address community concerns and questions.

In fall 2018, all community members that participated in the April 2018 meeting were invited to continue the facility discussion. A series of meetings from October through December 2018 yielded a final project with the scope of addressing immediate infrastructure needs (i.e., boiler rooms), updating career and technical education spaces to facilitate 21st century learning, and the construction of a community center to provided adequate space for all school district activities.

In April 2019 the school district worked with School Perceptions to survey school district residents. The survey assessed the level of support for improvement to school building infrastructure, career and technical education classroom and labs, and a community center. The results of the the survey are located here (and found below).

After analyzing the survey results and having conversations with community members, the District decided to move forward with the current project. Click on 'What is the Plan?' for full details of the proposed project.