Osseo Area Schools board approves amended attendance-boundary plan affecting about 2,000 students

The Osseo Area Schools Board on a 6-0 vote approved an amended attendance-boundary plan (called scenario 2A with two adjustments) that district officials said will affect approximately 2,000 elementary and middle school students and aim to rebalance growing enrollment in the northwest part of the district.

The board’s approval followed a multi-month process of community engagement and technical review led by district staff. Kaye Balilla, executive director of community relations, told the board the recommendation was “very much a community based solution” developed with three rounds of feedback and a core team that included cabinet members.

The plan, presented by Balilla and John Morstead, executive director of finance and operations, makes two late edits to the scenario delivered earlier this year: it reassigns the very northwestern portion of Edinbrook’s boundary to Osseo Middle School and keeps the entire Sundance Woods neighborhood at Fernbrook Elementary. “Approximately 2,000 elementary and middle school students will be impacted by this scenario,” Morstead said during the presentation.

District staff said the recommended scenario reduces the number of students moved compared with earlier drafts — about 320 fewer than the January proposal and about 120 fewer than the March proposal — and improves feeder patterns so students move more naturally from elementary to middle school. Officials also highlighted that most elementary schools will have boundaries aligned to natural barriers such as major roadways, parks, creeks and lakes so that “students closest to each school would be able to attend and potentially walk there,” Morstead said.

Board members who spoke praised the community engagement and the transparency of the process. Director Thomas Brooks moved the motion to approve the amended scenario; Director Keith Tate seconded. The board voted “Aye” and the motion passed 6 to 0.

Next steps described by staff include notifying families, fine-tuning special-education school assignments and transportation routes, and a likely change to start and end times for one elementary school to balance bus tiers. The district said it will follow labor-contract processes for any necessary staff transfers. Officials said the new boundaries and related operational changes are intended to take effect for the 2026–27 school year.

Board materials and the district’s boundaries website include appendices with school-by-school impacts; staff said those materials provide more detailed maps and demographic information used in scenario development.