Robbinsdale Board Votes to Shutter Three Schools, Admin Building
The Robbinsdale Area School Board voted Monday to close three of its schools and its main administrative building.
Noble Elementary, Sonnesyn Elementary, Robbinsdale Middle School and the Education Service Center will close at the end of the 2025-26 school year.
“By closing schools, what we’re going to be able to to is, we’re going to maximize resources and we’re going to be able to provide better resources for our kids,” said Board Member Aviva Hillenbrand.
It came after an hours-long public hearing and weeks of debate.
“This is a tough decision, and I think the public, and everybody that has spoken here today has echoed the same,” said Board Member Kenneth Wutoh.
Emotions were high for families impacted by the closures.
“I went home angry, and I woke up just devastated for my child, that I have to make additional arrangements for the following year,” Sonnesyn parent Jordi Hansen told CCX News. “I feel like this whole process was rushed, I don’t think there was clear and concise data.”
Sonnesyn Elementary is one of three schools in the Robbinsdale Area School District that is slated for closure.
In November of last year, administrators discovered an accounting error had left the district with a $21 million budget deficit.
As a result, the Minnesota Department of Education placed the district in a status known as statutory operating debt. That means the district needs to submit a plan to the state to fix its finances in January.
Two schools were considered for closure but were spared.
Neill Elementary in Crystal and Lakeview Elementary in Robbinsdale were pulled off the chopping block.
That will make Lakeview the last of the Robbinsdale Area School District’s schools located within the city of Robbinsdale.
More schools could be impacted by the closures.
FAIR School Crystal may have its programming eliminated. If that plan moves forward, students at FAIR School Pilgrim Lane would be moved into the Fair School Crystal building.
There’s a public hearing for that decision in January.
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