School year 2014/15: City of Chemnitz continues to invest considerable financial resources to implement the school building construction programme as well as for school equipment and learning materials

After the summer holidays, the new school year 2014/2015 begins on Monday, 1 September 2014 for around 24,100 pupils at municipal schools in Chemnitz and around 1,700 first-graders are looking forward to their first day of school at a municipal primary or special school in Chemnitz, after they received their "Zuckertüte" on the Saturday before (30 August) and made their first acquaintance with their school.

A good 2.4 million euros are available in the city's budget for equipment and learning materials alone

In the new 2014/15 school year, a total of 1,289,793 euros is available in the city's budget for learning and teaching materials for Chemnitz primary and secondary schools and grammar schools, the Chemnitz school model, the evening secondary school and evening grammar school, vocational schools and special schools. 89,262 for the implementation of the MEDIOS project at the Special Education Support Centre (SPFZ)/ Chemnitz School for the Physically Disabled, plus a grant from the state of 59,508 euros (40% of the total measure). In addition, 206,840 euros have been allocated in the municipal budget for the new equipment with 20 servers and 130 Clintes in six Chemnitz primary schools, four secondary schools, three grammar schools, six special schools and two vocational school centres in the administrative area. In 2014, around 750 PCs will also be financed as replacement equipment at eight primary schools, four secondary schools, one grammar school, three vocational school centres and the Sys-C school computing centre, for which the city will provide a total of €660,000 from the budget for the teaching sector.

For 2015, the city of Chemnitz has earmarked 135,300 euros for the installation of 15 new servers and 60 Clintes at 14 primary schools and one special school in the administrative area.

School network in Chemnitz in figures:

Chemnitz has 39 primary schools, twelve secondary schools, one community school, seven grammar schools, ten special schools, seven vocational schools, an evening secondary school and an evening grammar school, two second-chance schools, a boarding school at the sports grammar school, a home for children and young people with physical and multiple disabilities and all-day care at the Chemnitz school for the physically disabled. The media education centre and the school planetarium (at the Albert-Schweitzer-Oberschule) are also run by the local authority.

The Chemnitz State School for the Blind and Visually Impaired Support Centre and the State Centre for the Care of the Blind and Visually Impaired are run by the state. The Klinikum Chemnitz gGmbH is also responsible for the Medical Vocational School of Klinikum Chemnitz gGmbH, while seven general education schools and 20 vocational schools are run by independent organisations.

School building construction programme of the city of Chemnitz - balance sheet and plans for the ambitious project with a total volume of 40 million euros to date -
Investment volume in the years 2015 to 2016 totals 33.5 million euros

The City of Chemnitz's ambitious school building construction programme, which was launched in 2013, is implementing construction measures at Chemnitz schools with a total volume of €40 million, of which the City of Chemnitz has already invested over half of the total at €21 million - the city is investing a total of €24 million as its own contribution.

The school building construction programme will be continued in the years 2015 to 2016 following the City Council's decision in principle, with an investment volume of 33.5 million euros.

For the years 2014/15, investments for school building construction in Chemnitz totalled € 53.66 million, of which € 13.5 million in funding was provided by the Free State of Saxony.

In 2012, the special school building construction programme became the pilot project of the City of Chemnitz's participatory budget: citizens were able to use an online platform to help determine the priority list for refurbishment projects at Chemnitz schools, which were ultimately registered for the Free State's funding programme.

In the new 2014/15 school year, the programme will continue to focus on the construction of the new special education centre/Chemnitz School for the Physically Disabled at the Heinrich-Schütz-Straße site - the topping-out ceremony took place in July 2014.

In addition to the school, the large-scale project includes a two-court sports hall with outdoor facilities, a residential home, all-day care for children and young people with physical and multiple disabilities as well as therapy rooms with a therapy pool and gymnastics room. A total of 230 pupils with physical disabilities can look forward to over 250 new barrier-free rooms for learning, playing and living on an area totalling 13,650 m². The buildings will be completed in stages from spring 2015, with work on the school's outdoor facilities scheduled for completion in summer 2015. A total of

32.6 million euros will be invested in the extensive construction project. The Free State is subsidising the construction with a total of 14.8 million euros. The city of Chemnitz itself is investing 17.8 million euros.

The construction project at the Dr. Wilhelm-André-Gymnasium includes the construction of a new two-court sports hall with outdoor facilities and the renovation of the gymnasium in the old building. A new 22 x 44 metre sports hall will be built on the corner of Henriettenstrasse and Barbarossastrasse; it will be used exclusively for school and club sports. The level of the hall will be lowered three metres below that of the existing site in order to integrate the new building into the historic surroundings of the district. The building and facilities will be barrier-free and disabled-friendly. The outdoor facilities will include break areas and outdoor sports facilities. Parking spaces for bicycles will also be provided. Recreation and exercise areas will be designed for breaks. The outdoor facilities include a 15 x 28 metre all-weather pitch, a 60 metre short-distance running track, a shot put facility with two lanes, a long jump facility with two lanes as well as goals, basketball stands and volleyball posts. Construction began in September 2013, the foundation stone for the Zweifel sports hall was laid in July 2014; completion is scheduled for July 2015. The total costs amount to approx. 4.26 million euros, of which 2.87 million euros are being provided by the city of Chemnitz and the remainder by subsidies.

The general refurbishment of Ludwig-Richter-Grundschule at Ludwig-Richter-Straße 19, which began in September 2013, is due to be completed in summer 2015 so that the school can be reopened at the start of the new 2015/16 school year. The concept is based on the motto "From root to crown" and this will also be reflected in the future colour scheme of the school building: Sunny yellow walls, white circular and green elliptical ceiling sails, on the first floor green walls designed with a leaf pattern, on the first floor the colour blue dominates with butterfly patterned walls and ceiling sails. In addition to the renovation of the school building's façade, the main focus of these construction measures is also on accessibility to and within the school building. Last but not least, the heating and electrical installations will be updated to meet modern requirements as part of the general refurbishment. In addition to the bright, friendly design of classrooms and after-school care rooms, the programme also includes the installation of new specialist cabinets. A total of 2.9 million euros will be invested, of which 1.2 million euros will be subsidised by the Free State of Saxony.


In addition to these three major construction projects, a total of 21 measures have been completed at various school locations in 2013 and 2014 as part of the city's school building construction programme. Construction work focussed on fire protection (2nd structural escape route), roof and façade renovations, refurbishment of sanitary facilities and renewal of building services as well as the renovation of sports halls. Measures involving considerable capital expenditure are included:

Heinrich Heine primary school: the facade of the school building at Augsburger Straße 32 is being renovated and a lift for the disabled is being built, the sports hall is being completely refurbished - a total of EUR 2.5 million is being invested here, of which the city is providing a good EUR 1.5 million in municipal funds and just under EUR 1 million in subsidies from the state.

Schönau primary and secondary school: A new extension can be built in the area of the school at Guerickesraße 38 by expanding the space - a total of EUR 2.18 million is being invested here, of which the city is investing a good EUR 1.31 million in municipal funds and around EUR 870,000 in state subsidies.

Trützschlerstraße 10 property: The school building (as a primary school) and the sports hall will be completely renovated and the outdoor facilities will be designed - a total of EUR 4.66 million will be invested here, of which a good EUR 2.9 million will be invested by the city and a good EUR 1.76 million by the state.

School building construction programme - 2015/2016 projects

A total financial volume of 33.5 million euros is estimated for the school building construction measures planned by the city of Chemnitz in 2015/2016, of which municipal funds totalling 20.5 million euros. Eight measures are to be implemented at various school locations in Chemnitz, focussing on roof and façade renovations, the refurbishment of sanitary facilities and the renewal of building services. The City of Chemnitz has received grant notifications from the Free State for construction measures at two school buildings: For the Abendoberschule/Abendgymnasium and for the Sprachheilschule "Ernst Busch" - in each case, work needs to be carried out to dry out, renovate the roof and façade and renew the sanitary facilities. Each location will be made barrier-free (installation of lifts for the disabled). The total costs for both buildings amount to €2.5 million each - of which the city of Chemnitz is investing €1.5 million each and the state is subsidising the measures with €1 million each.

Measures involving considerable investment are also to be realised at the following properties in 2015 and 2016:

Boarding school at the sports high school: the building will be refurbished and an extension is also planned - a good 6.8 million euros are planned for the total costs, of which the city will invest a good 4.1 million euros of its own funds and 2.7 million euros in subsidies.

Borna primary school: The building (including the sports hall), which is currently still used as a school for the physically disabled, is to undergo complex refurbishment - €7 million is planned for the total costs, of which €4.2 million will be provided by the city and €2.8 million by the state.

Josephinenschule secondary school: The property at Agnesstraße 11 is to be refurbished for a future extension - 3.5 million euros are planned for the total costs, of which 2.1 million euros are the city's own funds and 1.4 million euros are subsidies from the state.

Emanuel-Gottlieb-Flemming-Grundschule: The complex reconstruction of the school building at Albert-Schweitzer-Straße 61 is planned here - 4 million euros are planned for the total costs, of which 2.4 million euros will be provided by the city and 1.6 million euros by the state.