School Board

In many cases, questions or concerns can be most effectively handled by district staff who have specific knowledge about the relevant issue.

If your question or comment is related to:

• Classroom issues: Please contact your student’s classroom teacher first. If you need further assistance resolving your concern, please contact the school principal.
• School issues:  Please contact the school principal first. If you need further assistance resolving your concern, please contact the superintendent’s office at 763-391-7003.
• Operational or management issues: Please contact the staff person closest to that area of interest, or email info@district279.org and your message will be forwarded to the appropriate staff member.
• District-level issues: Please contact the administrator responsible for the relevant area. If you need further assistance resolving your concern, please contact the superintendent’s office at 763-391-7003.

At regular meetings

Each regular meeting offers an opportunity for members of the audience to address the school board. Anyone who wishes to address the board may do so according to the guidelines listed in the accordion menu below.

By email

The school board's group email address is OsseoSchoolBoard@district279.org. When you use this email address, your message will go directly to every school board member, with a copy going to the superintendent. In most cases, within three business days you will receive a specific reply from the school board chair, responding on behalf of the full board.

Contact an Individual School Board member:

Jackie Mosqueda-Jones – Chair
Tanya Simons  – Vice Chair
Heather Douglass – Treasurer
Tamara Grady – Clerk
Thomas Brooks – Director
Sarah Mitchell - Director

By U.S. Mail or fax

Questions or comments for the School Board can also be sent via U.S. mail or fax.

School Board 
ISD 279 - Osseo Area Schools 
11200 93rd Ave. N 
Maple Grove, MN 55369 

Tel: 763-391-7003
Fax: 763-391-7071

The school board acknowledges the value in having stakeholders’ perspectives on school district matters. At the same time, the school board recognizes its responsibility to conduct orderly and efficient proceedings. The school board wants to assure that audience members can share their perspectives in an open and orderly environment while protecting the due process and privacy rights of individuals under the law.

Public Participation at School Board Meetings
The intent of the school board meeting is to carry on the business of the schools and, therefore, is not a public meeting, but a meeting held in public and open to the public.

Public participation is allowed during audience opportunity to address the school board. This is a standard agenda item of the school board meeting, allowing the public to address the school board on any given topic within parameters allowed by district policy and/or state law.

Guidelines
In the interest of community engagement, the Osseo School Board provides an opportunity for members of the audience to address the Board as follows:

1. Anyone who wishes to address the Board must complete all sections of a Speaker Card and submit it to the School Board Chair prior to the start of the meeting. (Speaker Cards are available on the public information table, by the meeting handouts; a staff member will collect all cards and give them to the School Board Chair.)
2. Handouts for board members are to be placed on the public information table or given to the Board secretary. The Board secretary will provide copies to board members.
3. Speakers will address the entire Board, not an individual Board  member or the audience verbally or with posters and/or literature.
4. The Board Chair (or designee) will call on each speaker who has submitted a Speaker Card, first calling on those addressing an item included in the current agenda, followed by those addressing topics not on the current agenda.
5. Speakers will be called in the following order:
   a. Students
   b. Parents/guardians of students
   c. District employees
   d. District residents
   e. All others
6. When called upon, please state your name, topic, and state whether you are or are not a district resident.
7. If more than three individuals have organized to speak on the same topic, please designate a spokesperson who can summarize the issue.
8. Please limit your comments to three minutes. Longer time may be granted at the discretion of the Board Chair.
9. During this agenda item (normally not to exceed 20 minutes, subject to the discretion of the chair), the Board and administration will listen to comments, ask clarifying questions if needed, and respond immediately whenever possible. The Board Chair may delegate responsibility to the superintendent or the superintendent’s designee to follow up with the speaker within a few days following the meeting.                                                        
10. Comments and interactions between Board members and the public are expected to be respectful, courteous, professional, and civil. The Board Chair will be responsible for ensuring that interaction meets these standards and will disallow inappropriate interaction. In particular, speakers may not address criticism toward an individual district employee; such concerns should be directed privately to the employee’s supervisor or higher-level administrator.
11. Personnel concerns should be directed to individuals in the following order: building principal, executive director of human resources, assistant superintendent, and finally in writing to the School Board.

School Board Work Session
The intent of the school board work session is to allow for school board discussion of topics. Work sessions do not include an opportunity for audience members to address the board.

Rights of the Public
All residents of the school district have a right to an opportunity to be heard and to have complaints considered by the school board, within the limits of the law and subject to reasonable time, place and manner restrictions.

The school board chair shall promptly rule out of order any discussion by any person, including school board members, that would violate the provisions of state or federal law, this policy, or the statutory rights of privacy of an individual.

Personal attacks by anyone addressing the school board are unacceptable. Persistence in such remarks by an individual may terminate that person’s privilege to address the school board.