Strong Schools, Strong Community
Thank you Owatonna Public Schools residents!
Voters approved both our ballot requests on November 5, 2019:
- Question 1 to build a new 1,600 student high school: 55.71% yes to 44.28% no (6,311 yes votes, 5,017 no votes)
- Question 2 to re-purpose the existing high school: 51.50% yes to 48.49% no (5,756 yes votes, 5,420 no votes)
A special meeting of the School Board of Independent School District 761 was held on November 12, 2019 and the Board approved the resolution relating to canvassing returns of the November 5, 2019 special election, making the results official.
“We are incredibly grateful to our community for this double vote of confidence,” said Superintendent Jeff Elstad. “The new high school and the repurposed existing high school will benefit our entire community, not just our students. We are truly Owatonna Proud.”
Local Business Support
The community of Owatonna showed their support for a new high school in a big way, with local businesses offering generous financial support. Each local business expressed their commitment to Owatonna and the need to attract and retain quality employees through their combined financial gifts of $22 million plus in-kind donations. The cost of the downsized high school proposal was $126M- but has been reduced to $104M through these corporate donations. The tax impact was reduced 20% thanks to the generosity of local business donations – a direct savings to our taxpayers.
Thank you to the following local businesses for your continued support to the Owatonna Public School District:
Federated Insurance, Mayo Clinic Health System, Viracon, Wenger Corporation, Wenger Foundation, and Gopher Sport.
