Next up in our series Meet our School Board is Laura Oksnevad, Vice Chair of the St. Anthony - New Brighton School Board.

As of January 3, 2023, Laura Oksnevad is Vice Chair and Ben Philips is Chair. The action of changing school board leadership is routinely practiced at the annual organizational meeting to allow for other members to gain leadership experience.

Learn more about what makes Laura a fantastic addition to the school board team. 

My name is Laura Oksnevad (she/her) and this is my 10th year on the St. Anthony-New Brighton School Board.  I moved to St. Anthony with my husband, Bjorn, and daughters, Sonja (9th grade) & Elise (7th grade) in 2011.  My background is in nursing.  I spent time at Unity Hospital as a Labor & Delivery nurse and then moved into clinic work providing prenatal education.  That is when my interest in prevention and education piqued.  I was particularly interested in providing lactation education.  Currently, I am a stay at home mother and spend much of my time with the SANB School Board, Northeast Metro 916 Intermediate School Board, coordinating Meals on Wheels for Nativity Lutheran Church, SANB Wellness Committee, and supporting our community through a variety of volunteer activities. 

You might see me out and about in the neighborhood walking our nearly two year old schnoodle, Rey.  My favorite activities are reading, nordic skiing, hiking, biking, and trying to keep my houseplants alive.

My purpose: I serve with integrity and hope, promoting a transformational education system that meets the holistic needs of each student. 

In 2013 I heard of an opportunity for an opening on the school board.  At the time I was active in the ECFE Advisory Council and highly interested in keeping our schools strong and successful for all students.  Like many residents of St. Anthony and New Brighton, our family moved here for the schools. I knew we had strong schools and I wanted to maintain the positive trajectory.  Fast forward ten years, many hours of professional development and personal education, I am still actively learning about education and the role of the school board in order to build a system that achieves our district’s vision of success for all learners.   

People occasionally ask me why I am still on the school board.  This is the reason, and it may sound weird: when I close my eyes I can see our vision being achieved. The role of a school board is to set the vision of a district and create systems (including structures, budgets, & policies) to achieve that vision.  The vision of our district, set in 2014, is: 

We are committed to the success of all learners. We will engage, inspire, and support each learner through innovation and collaboration.

The board has been working for years toward this vision in a variety of ways. First of all, after deep work by Superintendent Renee Corneille and the Teaching & Learning Committee, using feedback of students, staff and families, the board adopted Success Metrics - or a definition of what it means for a student to be successful at SANB schools.  This is sometimes referred to as a “profile of a graduate”.  The SANB Success Metrics can be accessed virtually if you wish to see them!  

I am proud and honored to be able to work with my colleagues on the board who work tirelessly toward fulfilling our district’s vision.  Each board member brings their own perspective, expertise and passion to the table.  We might not always agree on the what or how, but we are each committed to having deep conversations to get to a shared understanding in order to do the important work for our students.   

I serve on the Northeast Metro 916 Intermediate District School Board (a partnership of 13 school districts).  SANB Wellness Committee, Legislative Liaison, Association of Metro School Districts (AMSD) Representative, Metro ECSU Representative, Minnesota School Board Association (MSBA) Delegate Assembly 

Please reach out! My email address is loksnevad@isd282.org and my phone number is 612-788-9527