School committee decides: Wiesenthal elementary school will be closed!

School committee decides: Wiesenthal elementary school will be closed!

In a crucial meeting, the Wartburg district council decided to close the Wiesenthal state primary school. With 27 yes and 18 no votes, the result was a controversial vote that was accompanied by heated debates. This not only has an impact on the future of the school, but also on the around 50 students who will be taught at the Dermbach primary school from next year. The current 2025 school year will be the last for the school in Wiesenthal.

The decision to close follows an extensive 18-page recommendation from the school board. The school management recently tried to save the situation by suggesting that the Dermbach children continue to be taught in Wiesenthal. However, this proposal did not receive the necessary approval in the district council. The main problem is the insufficient number of students: 58 children are currently attending primary school, but only four of these will start school next year. This means that the minimum number of students for a class, which is 15, is not reached.

Parent protests and school location changes

The parents and children at the affected school did not stand still. At the meeting in which the closure was decided, around 60 people protested and left early. Many parents are concerned about the impact of this decision on their children's academic careers.

At the meeting, primary school officer Cornelia Hofmann also criticized the fact that the teaching style of the Wiesenthal school was no longer up-to-date and that the school, with only three teachers, did not offer enough resources to ensure adequate training. For parents concerned about their children's education, this was crucial information. A higher standard is announced for the merger of schools, which will achieve a better quality of teaching in Dermbach.

A new school district is being created

The Dermbach elementary school will open in August 2025 and will serve as the new school location. In addition to Dermbach, the new school district also includes Wiesenthal and several surrounding districts. The various types of schools in Thuringia, such as community schools or high schools in the region, offer students who want to continue their school career after primary school. This variety of options is intended to enable the children to have a suitable school career, even if the closure of the Wiesenthal primary school brings with it a change.

Although the headmistress of the Wiesenthal primary school, Ms. Amm, is considered one of the most committed of her guild in the Wartburg district, the higher-level school authorities have lost confidence in her work. The result of these decisions is deeply insightful and shows how important it is to closely monitor the development of schools in the region and to find effective solutions for everyone involved.

The debate about school closures is another example of the challenges facing educational institutions in Thuringia. The future of schools is being discussed here and the question of how education can be kept attractive in rural regions remains open. For families in particular, this decision means a serious change in their everyday lives.

Given recent developments, all eyes are on the district council as the school community prepares for the changes ahead. However, the discussion about Wiesenthal as an educational location is far from over; it could cause widespread waves and reignite the conversation about the future of primary schools in the Wartburg district.

inSouth Thuringia reports that...
Tagesschau reports that…
School statistics Thuringia reports that...