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Osseo presenters highlight language revitalization and disproportionate discipline among American Indian students
Summary
District Indian education staff told the board they support 543 American Indian students, are pursuing MDE language revitalization grants and flagged that American Indian students are suspended at 2.57 times the rate of white students; staff asked for increased visibility, more native staff and sustained PD.
Peter Daniels, coordinator of the district’s Indian education department, told the Osseo School Board at the May 5 work session that the district supports 543 American Indian students from more than 80 tribal nations and is expanding language and cultural programming. He said the program is funded through targeted federal and state sources (including Title VI, Johnson-O'Malley and MDE grants) and that the district has received a $500,000 first-round native language revitalization grant to support Dakota and Ojibwe language work.
"So we currently support 543 American Indian students around the district from over 80 different tribal nations," Daniels said, describing tribal consultations and a positive review at a recent TNEC/TNAC meeting. He highlighted language revitalization work, intergenerational learning opportunities, powwow participation and partnerships with tribal colleges and the University of Minnesota as components of a strategy to increase cultural visibility and academic support.
Daniels also presented data on disproportionality: he told the board American Indian students are suspended at 2.57 times the rate of white students, make up 2.2% of enrollment but over 4% of suspensions, and are overrepresented in special education categories. He and other presenters described requirements for an American Indian parent advisory committee (APAC) and the department’s role in improving identification and counting of American Indian students in district systems.
Board members praised the program and asked about scaling immersion and professional development; parents and students described concrete benefits, including college visits and culturally grounded supports that increased students’ sense of belonging. Staff said they will continue partnerships and work on recruitment and retention of American Indian staff and asked the board to consider strategic investments to expand the program.
