Voter-Approved Osseo School Levy Will Keep Staffing at Current Levels
Osseo School District voters approved an operating levy on Election Day, which will keep class sizes and options at current levels.
“If this didn’t pass, we were going to have to eliminate or reduce some of those options,” said Osseo School Superintendent Cory McIntyre. “We know kids when they have choice, they are going to invest and feel engaged and feel connected to the school. Right now, having those connections especially with adults is critical and this referendum paid for adults, as 85 percent of our budget is our people, 3,500 employees. That’s why it was such big ask.”
McIntyre says the district started an informational campaign in the spring. The levy wound up passing with 54 percent of the vote.
“We want people to be informed and make informed decisions, as in what it meant if it passed and what it meant if it didn’t,” said McIntyre. “We were elated that the community supported us and believes in us enough to support us and it feels like education is important in this district to the residents.”
CCX News visited Brooklyn Middle School with McIntyre to visit classes that could’ve very well been cut if the operating levy wasn’t renewed. Classes included global studies, a class where students were learning how to cook indigenous foods, and a class where students were dissecting a frog.
Voters also approved a new technology levy to raise funds for devices, cybersecurity and other security measures.
“We’re so grateful,” said McIntyre, when speaking about the levies’ passage. “It’s going to impact every scholar at every school.”
See also: Voters in Osseo School District Approve Levy Referendums
