The Anna Lindh elementary school in Wedding must now be completely closed. After there was talk of a partial closure due to mold in one part of the building at the end of July, one of Berlin’s largest primary schools with 700 pupils is now to move completely.
District councilor Stefanie Remlinger (Greens) says that only a few mobile classrooms and a container castle on the site on the Guinea Strait can still be used. The first classes are to start school there next Monday, before the children will also be taught in an office building at Saatwinkler Damm 42 in a few weeks.
Remlinger is happy to have found suitable premises at all in the former Air Berlin headquarters, which are available at short notice. A solution has yet to be found for physical education. The city councilor plans to sign the lease on Friday.
Provided that all furniture orders arrive as planned, the five and a half class school with 100 employees will gradually move in the coming weeks. It was unavoidable that several older years would be homeschooled and hybrid classes for a few weeks, and emergency care should also be set up. Classes five to six should work for one week in the model known from the pandemic, classes three to four for three weeks.
The Anna Lindh School has had problems with mold for five years. The last renovation was only completed in 2021 at a cost of more than five million euros, but the mold reappeared in several parts of the building.
Stefanie Remlinger explains why the school closure was only announced a few days before the start of the new school year: The decision to do so was made on August 3rd because further mold measurements were due in other parts of the building. Contamination of the entire building cannot be ruled out, which is why the district decided to move completely. However, one did not go public during the holiday period in order to clarify as many details as possible in the meantime.
Many decisions were made in agreement with the school management and the parent representatives, says Remlinger. At the last parents’ meeting, she saw “many happy faces” when the “beautiful canteen” and other modern furnishing details of the office building were shown. “Coming from Anna-Lindh, the new building is heaven”. Nevertheless, parents also reacted angrily to the new situation, as the city councilor admits.
The district office sees the biggest problem in the new way to school, which 700 children now have to adapt to. The two locations are separated by more than three kilometers. Remlinger now wants to talk to private bus companies and the BVG to ensure school transport to Saatwinkler Damm. The district is also looking for traffic calming measures and wants to set up mobile traffic lights in front of the new school.
The Mitte district has rented the building on Saatwinkler Damm for an initial period of six years, with an option to extend. Remlinger is relieved and hopes that “hopefully a completely new Anna Lindh School will be completed in six years”. No decision has yet been made on further renovation or demolition of the mold-infested building.
