Osseo school board votes to end contract with equity consulting group

Osseo Area school board members voted to end the district's contract with a racial-consulting group in a special meeting Tuesday night.

In a 4-2 vote, the board approved its achievement and integration plan and budget, which would end the district's five-year-old relationship with Pacific Educational Group (PEG) after the 2017-2018 school year.

The district came to a stalemate when voting on whether to move forward with the district's achievement and integration budget and plan on March 21. At the March meeting, community members, teachers and parents urged the board to continue its relationship with the consulting group.

Over the years, the district has relied on PEG for its professional development services. The district now plans on developing more of its own equity work in-house. In 2016-2017, the district contracted with PEG for $152,000.

In its revised approved budget, the district proposed reducing its spending for PEG's services from $73,100 to $48,250 for 2017-2018 school year.