Ready for the start of the school year
Next Monday, 13 August, school starts again for Saxony's pupils. There are currently 17,835 girls and boys attending local primary, secondary and special schools as well as grammar schools in Chemnitz. This figure also includes those who are pursuing a second-chance education - e.g. at evening grammar schools - as well as first-year pupils: 1,863 ABC pupils have their first day of school on Monday at one of the 39 municipal primary schools.
Costs for teaching and learning materials
The city pays around 1.56 million euros for new textbooks and learning materials. This year, that is a good 42,000 euros more than last year. The reason for this is not only the increase in pupil numbers but also the fact that workbooks and photocopies for all Chemnitz pupils as well as calculators for pupils from year 8 in grammar schools and from year 11 in vocational grammar schools and specialised upper secondary schools are financed by the city. Textbooks and materials for vocational schools alone cost 387,658 euros. Those for primary schools cost 394,000 euros. The cost of learning materials for secondary schools this year amounts to 255,200 euros, those for grammar schools to 376,927 euros and 100,739 euros for special schools.
School transport
The rising number of pupils also has an impact on the costs borne by the city for school transport. Applications for the 2018/19 school year are still being submitted, so the costs have not yet been finalised. In the past school year, 8,424 applications - excluding those for special transport services - were processed. 7,115 applications were approved. The city budget is also used to cover the transport of pupils
to special schools in the Chemnitz city area are also paid for from the city budget. Contracted transport companies transport 632 pupils with disabilities to their schools every day on behalf of the city. In total, the city spent around 5.56 million euros on school transport services in 2018.
School refurbishments
Rising birth rates and immigration, as well as changes in school law, such as the implementation of inclusion, mean that there is no longer sufficient capacity at primary and secondary schools. In order to compensate for the increased space requirements, the city is planning various refurbishment and new construction projects for primary and secondary schools over the next few years. The first of these is the secondary school at Arno-Schreiter-Straße 1, which opened at the start of the school year (see PM 533).
New extension for Glösa primary school
The new extension to Glösa primary school, which cost around 3.3 million euros, is also worthy of mention. Lessons in containers will soon be a thing of the past. The schoolchildren, who are still learning in the old building and in additional mobile classrooms, were able to observe during their breaks how a new school building is being constructed behind the old one. The work on and in the school building should be completed by the end of this year. As the city expects pupil numbers to continue to rise, such building projects are an investment in the future. Classrooms, specialist cabinets and a new dining room have been created in the new building at Glösa primary school. In the course of the work, accessibility was created, e.g. through the installation of a lift, appropriately equipped sanitary facilities and barrier-free access to the sports hall. Glösa primary school will also receive new outdoor sports facilities and an additional open space. The town also used the refurbishment and new build project to replace the school's outdated heating system and adapt it to the increased space created by the new build.
Borna primary school
Borna primary school is expected to move into the renovated school building at Wittgensdorfer Straße 121a in autumn. The complex 8.5 million euro reconstruction of part of the former school for the physically disabled is still ongoing. It is to serve as the new home for the primary school. The completion of the refurbishment, originally planned for August, has been delayed as stone floor coverings have to be restored and relaid in accordance with monument protection regulations. Work on the outdoor facilities should be completed by spring 2019
be completed by spring 2019. Until then, pupils can continue to use the existing open spaces at the neighbouring old site.
Renovation of the Emanuel Gottlieb Flemming primary school
The Emanuel-Gottlieb-Flemming primary school has also undergone refurbishment, as has its sports hall and the associated connecting wing.
At a cost of around 6.8 million euros, the local authority has completely refurbished the school and converted it to operate as a four-form entry primary school (previously two-form entry). It will be back in operation at the start of the new school year. The associated after-school extension will be completed in the autumn. During this refurbishment, the city extended parts of the basement in order to increase the capacity of the primary school. This included lowering the basement floor to achieve a clear room height of 2.50 metres. The remodelled basement now houses a workroom, as well as the dining hall and the serving kitchen.
Klaffenbach primary school
As part of the ongoing refurbishment work - a second escape route is being built and various fire safety measures implemented - it was decided back in May, together with representatives of the City of Chemnitz, the school and parents, that the top floor of Klaffenbach Primary School would no longer be used in future. Instead, the utilisation concept envisages that the after-school care centre and the school will only be accommodated on the ground floor and first floor.
In the course of the work during the summer holidays, it has now become apparent that some of the ceilings are also in need of renovation. It was therefore decided that the after-school care centre would move out of the attic with immediate effect and that the school rooms on the ground floor would be used twice until the utilisation concept is implemented. The after-school care centre will not be closed, but merely relocated.
During the autumn holidays, the actual situation will be determined by opening the ceiling to the top floor. One thing is certain: The roof of the primary school is not in danger of collapsing.
The school can reopen next Monday together with the after-school care centre.
Further projects in 2018:
The barrier-free expansion at the two Luisen schools (primary and secondary school) should be completed by October. A total of 1.4 million euros will be spent on the two sites. By contrast, the sports hall at the Georg Götz special school will be ready for use again at the start of the school year.
Georg Goetz special school. It has been refurbished at a cost of around 1 million euros. A second structural escape route and various fire protection measures are being implemented at Klaffenbach primary school.
The schoolyard at Valentina Tereschkowa primary school will be renovated until the end of August, after which plants will be planted. At the start of the school year, pupils at Jan Amos Comenius Primary School will be able to use new rooms. A previously unused room on the 3rd floor has been converted for teaching purposes. All in all, the project cost just under 1 million euros.
The Mittelbach primary school recently added a second structural escape route. Further fire safety precautions were also taken in this school. Almost 1 million euros was invested here. The schoolchildren can look forward to their breaks, as part of their school playground was renovated during the summer holidays and a playing field and trampolines were installed there. The school playground will be further renovated in 2019.
Projects until 2019:
Remodelling and extension work is currently underway at Schönau secondary school, mainly on the top floor. In this way, the city of Chemnitz is creating more space for around 1.1 million euros. The remodelling work at Schönau secondary school is due to be completed in April 2019. Meanwhile, Reichenhain primary school is also being renovated at a cost of around 2.6 million euros. The aim is to create accessibility, set up a new dining hall and generally optimise the space available. These measures should be completed by October 2019.
The Harthau primary school has been undergoing refurbishment since June. Among other things, the city wants to return the neighbouring building to school use and construct a connecting building as well as carry out other urgently needed renovations. The building department estimates the costs for the project at 2.2 million euros. Completion is planned for the end of 2019.