PVO secondary school in Amsterdam-Noord does not have to close after all

According to the dispute committee, the decision to close the school cannot be upheld. Because this is an emergency judgment, the full ruling and reasons will follow later.

The emergency case this week was not about the substantive reasons behind the decision to close the school, but about the procedure that preceded that decision. Closing a school is not allowed just like that, there must be valid reasons for this. Without interference from the minister, any decision that has consequences for students and staff must receive permission from the participation council. Because that did not happen in this case, the participation council went to the disputes committee in February.

According to the General Education Union, the committee indicated during the discussion on Monday that in a major decision such as the closure of a school, not involving the participation council carries extra weight.

Poor assessment of the Education Inspectorate

In January, to everyone’s surprise, it was decided to close the PVO secondary school in Amsterdam-Noord. The reasons: yet another bad assessment from the Education Inspectorate and too few students to keep the school running.

Parents and teachers reacted furiously, and when the school’s sole administrator was suspended, there was great resistance. “We are strongly convinced that the school is viable and that our school concept with small classes has a right to exist,” said teacher Dick Tulp in March.

The full ruling will be announced no later than May 3.