Record applications: Cologne urgently plans new special school locations!

Record applications: Cologne urgently plans new special school locations!

In Cologne-Vogelsang, the special school for intellectual development on Kolkrabenweg is faced with a challenge. A call for help from the school nursing is made aware of the tense situation, since the registrations have increased suddenly and 70 places are already above the available quota. In order to alleviate the lack of space, parts of the students are taught at a school in Weiden, which makes the distribution of the students even more complicated to several locations. Mayor Henriette Reker recently attended the special school to get an idea of ​​the situation. "The challenge remains to distribute the students sensibly to the different locations," said Reker during their visit. In the coming school year, however, additional school places will be promised to cope with the overhang of registrations, as reported by the Rundschau.

damaged rooms and provisional closure

Another reason for concern is the preliminary closure of the special school and the elementary school on Kolkrabenweg from September 16, 2024. Increased pollutant values ​​that were determined during air tests make large parts of the school building unusable. An unpleasant smell and complaints of employees led to the city of Cologne reacted and the schools closed until further notice. A specialist institute has determined increased values ​​of the naphthalin hydrocarbon compound, which is due to the use of parquet adhesive containing pollutants, which has been laid for several decades. The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger emphasized that the health authority did not see an immediate health risk for the students, but was decided to caution, since the values ​​in some rooms exceeded the limit values.

The health department underlined that there was no acute health risk to the students and that they were never in danger. Despite this reassurance, the parents and teachers concerned have expressed concerns. Complaints such as headaches and difficulties of concentration were found during stays in contaminated rooms. The city plans to develop a solution to restore the usability of the affected rooms as quickly as possible in order to resume the lessons in the usual framework, as reported by the wdr.

future prospects and necessary renovations

The situation is presenting the city of Cologne with additional challenges. The administration checks a new establishment of a special school to create the urgently needed places. The decisive factor for this are also the spatial defects at the existing special school of Redwitzstraße, where the lack of specialist and differentiation rooms, as well as sanitary facilities are pointed out. The chairman of the parental care, Stefanie Lippelt, asked the city for support to improve the structural condition of the school rooms.

In addition, the completion of the new primary school in Kunterbunt in the Görlinger Center is sought until the beginning of the school year 2028/29, which brings additional hope of relaxing the situation. The city has also considered the possibility of rededizing an existing school to a special school, which could reduce the pressure on the affected parents and students. It is to be hoped that the announced measures will soon guarantee a pleasant school operation at all locations.