Former Roseville Mayor Urges School Board To Extend Openness

Former Roseville Mayor John Kysylyczyn this week urged the Roseville School Board to take steps to extend openness in how it holds and televises its meetings.

At the public forum portion of the Board's Tuesday organizational session, Kysylyczyn contended the district should implement a series of reforms that would, among other things: commit to hold all meetings in the board chamber.

"No secretive retreat meetings at locations outside the district center," he said, referring to a board retreat that was held off site last summer.

Kysylyczyn, who has two children attending of the district's elementary schools,  also urged the Board to televise all meetings irrespective of whether they are regular meetings or work sessions.

He also suggested the district "create new citizen adivsory committees which operate in the open and are appointed through a public process, in order to provide broader viewpoints to the Board."

Kysylyczyn's comments come in the wake of him tangling with the school district last summer over a what he claimed was employees and board members improperly being involved in the development and distribution of a political communiqué to parents.

The school district claimed it did not violate state law or board policy, contending the Ramsey County Attorney's Office dismissed the complaint.

Kysylyczyn said the Ramsey County Attorney's Office did not dismiss his complaint, as was earlier reported by then Board Chairwoman Lisa Edstrom. Rather, he said the county attorney ruled that his complaint must first be considered by the state Office of Administrative Hearings, the proper place for its adjudication.

Whatever the case on that dispute, Kysylyczyn contended this past Tuesday that some events of the past year highlighted the need for the school board chairperson "to exhibit leadership on the right issues and needs to set the tone fo how senior district staff interacts with the community."

Meanwhile, during Tuesday's public forum, another Roseville citizen urged the School Board "to loosen up a bit" on its governing style at meetings. Gary Grefenberg contended the board needs to allow for a more free flowing dialogue among itself and citizens attending the meetings.

Grefenberg, co-chair of a Roseville citizens' engagement task force, said too often appearing before the board feels like a stiff visit before the pope.

School Board members listened to Kysylyczyn's and Grefenberg's comments but offered no response or comments themselves.