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Staff writer

It was de ja vu all over again when Anoka-Hennepin School Board members voted Nov. 23 to close six and repurpose two of its schools.

These were the same schools identified for such treatment when the board cast its school-closing vote Sept. 28.

The votes to close and repurpose schools were recast when it was discovered that the district had missed a legal step the first go-round – a technical error, they said.

That technical error came about when district officials were unaware of a requirement in state law to publish a two-week notice of school closing public hearings in the district’s legal newspapers.

 As a result of that oversight, District 11’s board members not only had to take a second vote, they also had to hold another public meeting to discuss the proposed closings.

That meeting took place at Blaine High School Nov. 18.

The Nov. 23 vote passed the school-closing motion on a 5-1 vote, the same margin as last time, with Dr. Scott Wenzel voting in opposition as he had the first time around.

The vote was cast without comment.

On the Anoka County side of the Anoka-Hennepin School District, schools closing are:

• Peter Enich Kindergarten Center

• L.O. Jacob Elementary School

• Sorteberg Elementary School

• Sandburg Middle School

Washington Elementary School will close in the spring, then reopen for the 2010-2011 school year as a sixth-grade campus for middle school students previously attending Sandburg and Fred Moore Middle Schools.

Fred Moore will serve as educational home for seventh- and eighth-grade students only.

On the Hennepin County side of the district schools closing are:

• Champlin Elementary School

• Riverview Specialty School for Mathematics and Environmental Science

Park View Early Childhood Center will close, then reopen as a regular elementary school.

Sue Austreng is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it