The Tallinn city government announced Thursday that it has decided to restructure the Põhja-Tallinn school network in order to align school structures and student place planning with the actual number of students, updated population forecasts and the principles of responsible city governance.

The city government explained that in recent years the Põhja-Tallinn school network has been affected both by the opening of new schools and by the arrival of Ukrainian war refugees. At the end of last year, the University of Tartu updated its population forecast, according to which the number of children will decline in the coming years. Tallinn Mayor Peeter Raudsepp said reorganizing the school network is unavoidable.

"The decision is economically and demographically justified. This is a systematic reorganization aimed at ending the confusion created by earlier political decisions. The example of Põhjatähe School — 16 students, 11 staff members and a €14 million investment — speaks for itself. Responsible city governance means we cannot ignore such a cost structure," Raudsepp said.

According to him, schools cannot be planned on the basis of optimistic projections but rather on actual demographic indicators, which show that the number of children in Põhja-Tallinn will decline by one-third.

Under the decision, Tallinn Open School will move this fall to the building at Karjamaa 18 and continue operating there.

Tallinn Põhjatähe Basic School will legally continue operating in Lasnamäe and its 16 students will be guaranteed the opportunity to continue their studies at Open School or other schools in the area.

Kalamaja Basic School will temporarily continue operating in part at Karjamaa 18 until construction of its extension begins and Pelgulinna High School will be reorganized into a basic school.

To address overcrowding at Ristiku Basic School, the school will take over the former Open School premises at Auna 6, which the city previously purchased, meaning students will no longer have to study in temporary modular classrooms.

Tallinn Deputy Mayor Andrei Kante said that in recent weeks city officials have met with school administrations, teachers and parents to explain the planned steps.

"All changes will be made in a way that guarantees students a school place and ensures that school operations are logical and sustainable," Kante said.

According to the Tallinn city government, the school network is being addressed as part of a broader effort to streamline financial management and investment decisions. The goal is to link the school network to population forecasts and avoid situations where newly built or planned school places cannot be filled.

Former deputy mayor: Reorganization means fewer places at triple the cost

Tallinn City Council member and former deputy mayor for urban planning Madle Lippus (SDE) said the city government's plan ignores population growth linked to new residential developments in the area, exacerbates overcrowding in schools, leaves many families without access to a neighborhood school and increases the city's average cost per student place.

"It is a fact that Põhja-Tallinn is a growing district. Looking only at larger developments, more than 3,700 new apartments will be added to the area and there is already a significant shortage of school places," Lippus said.

While Mayor Peeter Raudsepp (Isamaa) has said that, based on actual demographic indicators, the number of children in Põhja-Tallinn will decline by one-third, Lippus argued that this claim does not hold up. She said the city government cannot plan the school network solely on the basis of projections derived from the general fertility rate but must also take into account broader urban development trends and the resulting population movements.

Lippus noted that thousands of new residents will move to Põhja-Tallinn in the coming years and said the city government's decision will create a situation in which many families lack access to education close to home.

"In the next few years, there will not be enough school places within Põhja-Tallinn for the district's residents. As a result, overcrowding in existing schools will worsen and families will be forced to look for school places in other areas. With today's decision, we are moving back to the era of Center Party-led education administration when thousands of families moved into areas where the city failed to provide basic public services," Lippus added.

According to Lippus, the previous city government based the creation of additional school places in Põhja-Tallinn on the district's growth and Põhjatähe School was part of that approach.

"The goal was to direct students from the already overcrowded Kalamaja Basic School and Gustav Adolf High School to Põhjatähe and, in the longer term, to create school places proactively rather than dealing with the problem only once schools are already overburdened. But the new city government is now recreating a problem it will have to confront in the coming years," Lippus said.

The City Council member said a comparison shows that the previous city government's plan envisaged 890 new school places at a cost of €40 million, averaging about €45,000 per school place. Under the new plan, however, 240 school places will remain at a cost of €29 million. This raises the average cost to €120,833 per school place and nearly triples the cost per place.

"It is difficult to see how such a plan supports the development of a functioning school network, ensures access to neighborhood education or is financially justified when the result is four times fewer school places at nearly three times the price," Lippus said.

In Põhja-Tallinn, nearly 800 apartments have been planned for the Volta quarter, most of which have been completed and are in use. A total of 622 apartments are being built in the Krulli quarter and another 414 in the Manufaktuuri area. Noblessner will have 856 apartments in total, some of which have been completed, while development continues. Approximately 1,000 apartments are planned for the Hipodroom area.

The article was updated to add comments from Madle Lippus.

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