School expansion in Harlaching canceled: Parents and politicians outraged!

School expansion in Harlaching canceled: Parents and politicians outraged!

The news is making waves in Munich: the planned expansion of the Theodolinden-Gymnasium in Harlaching has to be put on hold for the time being. This decision has upset the district committee and many parents who are hoping for an improvement in school conditions. The school building is getting old and the specialist classrooms in the basement are in a dilapidated condition. Urgently needed extensions with new biology and physics rooms as well as the urgently needed renovation of existing classrooms were actually planned, but the city canceled these measures, as tz.de reports.

The reasons for this decision are varied. The city's strained budget situation forces us to set other priorities. In view of new development areas, the pressure from the return to nine-year high schools and a growing population, the pressure on school places is increasing. Political voices from the district committee sharply criticize the situation. The SPD politician Helga Hügenell describes the situation as dramatic and calls for more commitment to school expansion. Green politician Norbert Weigler also emphasizes that the situation is no longer tolerable for everyone involved.

Real challenges for the Theodolinden-Gymnasium

The school management is facing a serious challenge: There are currently 43 classes and upper school tracks, but only 41 available rooms - and some of these rooms are simply too small. The parents' council never misses an opportunity to lobby the district committee for a rethink and to fight for expansion. The School Division (RBS) has increasingly emphasized that a re-evaluation of the projects became necessary because the extension building does not enjoy the necessary priority due to the financial situation. This means that the school expansion plans are on hold until at least 2028, while the necessary renovations are to be carried out gradually.

In order to improve the situation sustainably and to create transparency, there is now also a digital school building map muenchen.de is available. This interactive map provides an overview of all projects in the Munich school construction offensive, including planned construction projects, locations and completion dates. It is intended to particularly benefit school families, residents as well as city councilors and district committee members and offers a contemporary presentation of information that was previously displayed statically.

Overall strategy for school and daycare construction

Regardless of the current challenges affecting the Theodolinden-Gymnasium, the city of Munich has made considerable progress in school construction in recent years. A comprehensive educational construction offensive has been launched since 2016. To date, a total of 39 projects have been approved as part of the various school construction programs, with the focus often on primary schools. For example, the 5th school construction program has a volume of 695 million euros, which is intended to create up to 4,600 school places and several sports units through various measures, as City of Munich reports.

What happens next? A meeting of the district committee with representatives of the Department of Education and Sports is scheduled to find alternative solutions. The hope finally dies that the school expansion in Harlaching will not be permanently neglected and that the students will receive an appropriate learning environment.