Parents of Osborn students inquired and made visits to the Board offices and never received positive answers regarding the delay.

[citation needed] In 2006 Kimberly Chou of The Michigan Daily said that the school was "often criticized for its lack of resources and tension among students.

[8] An April 2011 report from the office of Mayor of Detroit Dave Bing stated that gangs have caused problems at Osborn High.

[9] Jeff Siedel of Detroit Free Press said that in the northern hemisphere summer of 2011 "as a wave of violence swirled around" Osborn as several students died in violent incidents.

In 2016 Tanya Bowman, a former Osborn principal who engaged in a kickback scheme and took $12,500 by using false invoices, received a nine-month federal prison sentence and two years of supervised release.

Stan Allen, who served as principal, said that in 1987, when he first began working at the school, the Hmong students performed academically well and often received grade point averages of 3.5 to 4.0.

[14] Beginning in 1999 the Hmong students at Osborn began educating people about their ethnic group through a multi-cultural performance show they created, titled Asian American Awareness.

[16][17] The school's Hall of Fame includes students who had athletic success in regional and state competitions, including Kelsey Johnson, who won the long jump event at the 1973 Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) track and field finals,[18] and Jimalatrice Thomas who won the 400-meter dash title at the 1988 MHSAA championships.

[19] Skillman, United Way of Southeastern Michigan, City-Year Corp., Wayne Mediation, Children’s Aid Society, Made Men, Neighborhood, ISA (Institute for Student Achievement), Black Family Development, Think Detroit P.A.L., Osborn College Preparatory Academy L.S.C.O., Osborn Neighborhood Alliance, and Detroit Parent Network.