Reeling from dramatic dysfunction on the school board, an accounting error that cost the district $20 million, and a hasty school closure process racked with controversy, Robbinsdale School District will now hold a public hearing on January 5 to discuss the potential closure of another school building: FAIR School Pilgrim Lane Elementary, which would effectively close the program at FAIR School Crystal Middle.
According to the district, the board is considering closing the magnet program at FAIR School Crystal. Current students in the program would move to either Plymouth Middle School or Sandburg Middle School. That said, the existing FAIR Crystal building would stay open, and become the new home for FAIR Pilgrim Lane Elementary, which is currently located in Plymouth. If this plan moves forward, the FAIR Pilgrim Lane building would be shuttered.
FAIR (Fine Arts and Interdisciplinary Resources) School Crystal is a magnet school, specializing in the integration of STEM and fine arts courses. In 2008, the school was highlighted in a U.S. Department of Education report as one of six model magnet schools from around the country. In 2025, 29.5 percent of students were proficient in math and 53.6 percent in reading — above the Robbinsdale school district average. It’s a beloved school. In mid-December, students held a walkout to protest the potential program closure.
The looming budget deficit means that Robbinsdale will likely have to close multiple school buildings. It is to be hoped that the process will involve significant community involvement and careful administrative thought.
The upcoming January 5 vote decides both the fate of the FAIR School Pilgrim Lane Elementary school building and the fate of the entire FAIR School Crystal Middle program.
Robbinsdale school board member Caroline Long posted earlier today that the fairness of the January 5 vote had been compromised in a backdoor schedule move.
Ms. Long stated in part:
The agenda that was posted is NOT the one that was discussed during agenda setting. On Thursday, board members received an email from administration saying the vote to end the middle school magnet program at Fair Crystal has been moved BEFORE the scheduled hearing. If that vote passes, the hearing, where many of you planned to speak, will be cancelled.
The same email also stated that the program currently at Fair Crystal is already offered at SMS and PMS. This is new information that has not been communicated publicly, among other things. And that brings me back to a concern I’ve raised at multiple board meetings: TRANSPARENCY. Important details continue to surface through internal emails rather than through open communication with the community.
Indeed, the meeting agenda currently states that the vote to end the FAIR Crystal magnet school programming will take place five agenda items before the public hearing period to close FAIR Pilgrim Lane. As the two agenda items are necessarily connected, a successful vote to close FAIR Crystal magnet programming to academic programming would dramatically impact the outcome for FAIR Pilgrim Lane.
Minnesota law requires that a public hearing be held before the closing of any school, with two weeks of advance notice given to the public. Individual school programs, like magnet school programming, can be shifted at the discretion of the school board.
While the choice to surreptitiously shift agenda items may be legal, it is yet another instance of highly concerning behavior from the Robbinsdale school board. With jobs and student experiences on the line, this move deprives community members of the opportunity to give input before the votes that decide the fate of the district.
