Our Process

A community-informed plan for the future of our school

Since early 2023, Oakes Public School has conducted an extensive planning process to identify and prioritize the district’s most critical building needs, relying on feedback from community members to help shape and enhance the plan.

These efforts are outlined below. Please scroll through the carousel below to learn more.

  • Community listening input sessions in April and May of 2023 with the school board and administration, elementary and high school teachers, support staff, students, and community members.

  • Two community-wide surveys in September and November of 2023, distributed via postcards, the newspaper, social media, the microsite and email, and available to all residents. Click here to view the survey results, presented by Superintendent Anna Sell.

  • Development of a community action committee and three meetings in the fall of 2023 to help review facility priorities and guide the decision of the school board.

  • Several community open houses held at the district in the fall of 2023 offering guided building tours.

  • Demographic analysis to further understand our historical and projected student enrollment.

  • Educational adequacy assessment to understand how the spaces in our building compare to the recommended guidelines for K-12 schools.

  • A detailed facility and grounds assessment to understand the physical needs of our school.

  • Comprehensive communication plan, including a dedicated website, videos, emails, social media posts, newspaper columns, fliers, and more.

  • The district worked with a financial advisor to understand various funding options for building investments.

Based on this comprehensive effort and community input, the district prioritized its most critical challenges to address based on the level of need, commonalities across all assessments, and high taxpayer value for the investment. The highest-ranked needs were HVAC, indoor air quality, windows in the high school, plumbing, accessible bathrooms in the high school, and kitchen updates.

Our community helped shape these priorities and residents will have the final say on this proposed plan on Election Day.