• Background

         ZED has been in existence for over 30 years but has never had a newly constructed facility. The need for a new building was primarily identified by three main factors:

         1) The state of the current ZED facilities
              --Identified space inefficiencies at all our program sites with growing enrollment and lack of unique/innovative spaces that meet our student needs including reduced/aging leased spaces.

         2) The extreme need for a Student with Unique Needs (SUN) program at our ZED South Campus setting IV facility
              --This is a school within a school that serves our neediest behavioral/cognitive students who require special facility needs that are not in place currently

         3) ZED currently leases from Byron Public Schools for two of its schools---Byron will need this space back in July 2022 and the lease will end

         In February 2018, ZED formed a committee whose membership included participants from all member districts with a goal to offer a facility recommendation to the ZED Governing Board. After numerous meetings their recommendation in September 2018 was to build a new facility that would encompass all ZED programs and the ZED main office under one roof; additionally ZED would sell both the ZED South Campus and ZED main office buildings. The committee wanted a new building on the Highway 14 corridor (as that is a central location for all member districts) and close to a member district campus. After searching for land options, it was decided to build a facility in Kasson (MN) along Highway 57 and near Kasson-Mantorville Public Schools.
         ZED is planning to build a 61,000 square foot building in Kasson that costs $16 million and includes a parking lot that will have roughly 180 parking spots. The parking lot and new building will encompass about 6.12 acres. This will be a two-story facility and is planned to open in fall 2022. We are anticipating breaking ground in early summer 2021 for construction. The construction manager is Kraus Anderson and the architect for the project is Wendel.

    Please contact Patrick Gordon, ZED Executive Director, for any additional information about the new facility at pgordon@zumbroed.org or at 507-775-2037.