MINOT, ND (KXNET) — Weighing the options. That's what Minot Public Schools has been doing, as the district recently completed a facilities assessment back in December from JLG Architects. The assessment included several buildings all of which need something: Whether it's heating, cooling, electric, or plumbing. While the district does not have a building fund to financially handle many of these issues, Minot Public Schools Superintendent Scott Faul says that this is an issue many school districts come across. "Right now, our differed maintenance is not closely funded to the level we need with the number of schools we have and I don't think that is out of line with other class A school districts that have multiple schools I think there's always a struggle and a balance," said Dr. Faul. Dr. Faul says that many of the district's buildings, like Minot North, have some kind of deferred maintenance that needs attention. "People would be surprised, but there's deferred maintenance on it — the ING part of that building has a 20-year-old roof on it and so that roof didn't get updated when we added on to that and built that and so there's a cost to replace that roof at some point right," said Dr. Faul. While the district does allocate money from the general fund to tackle maintenance issues for emergencies and other issues throughout the year, Faul says that it is often enough to cover situations that arise. Minot offices close for Martin Luther King Jr. Day "We allocate a percentage of our general fund every year and so it's just under a million dollars to maintain, and different issues throughout the year. We had a sewer issue come up at Edison Elementary that happened on a Friday this fall that we were able to handle on an afternoon weekend but those things happen," said Dr. Faul. Dr. Faul says they're hoping to secure funding through grants and possibly the state legislature, however, they are still in the beginning phases of everything. "We could possibly work through to secure some funding. There's always some grants that we could possibly look at and we will but we're kind of in that starting phase," said Dr. Faul. However, Dr. Faul says he looks forward to working with local lawmakers during the current session as it will be his first time making his way to Bismarck for legislative work. "We got a great working relationship with our local legislators in Minot and so we communicate needs and you know maybe some deficits where we need more funding and they ask about current funding levels and adequacy and where we're at and again I just think it's that open communication," said Dr. Faul. Those with the MPS district expect many of the maintenance projects will begin sometime in the summer of 2026. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Today's Top Stories SIGN UP NOW