On Thursday, Õhtuleht reported that at a time the city is spending €3 million to purchase a building for the Open School, a nearby public school, Kalamaja Basic School, has been struggling with severe overcrowding for decades.

Former North Tallinn District Elder Manuela Pihlap, a member of the opposition Center Party, stated that in addition to the €3 million purchase, the Open School building at Auna 6 will require up to €19 million in additional investments, bringing the total to €22 million.

In contrast, purchasing and renovating the Kalamaja school would cost a total of €19 million. Kalamaja Basic School primarily serves local families, while the private school can accept students from anywhere.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that the city is currently constructing a new primary school at Karjamaa 18, not far from the location. The previous, Center-led city government had offered Open School the opportunity to relocate to the new building, but the school declined.

Although the purchase of the Auna 6 building from RKAS has been clearly linked to the Social Democrats, it was, in fact, Center Party Deputy Mayor Tiit Terik who first wrote to RKAS about the matter in January. However, both Terik and former Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart (Center) told the newspaper that the initiative to purchase the Open School building was indeed driven by the Social Democrats and was discussed multiple times in the coalition council.

Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski told the newspaper that Open School had decided to cease operating as a private school and transition to a municipal school, a move he, as a parent, did not support.

Ossinovski also mentioned that, during the recent supplementary budget decision, he informed the city government that his children attend this private school. He added that there were no formal restrictions regarding the approval of the supplementary budget, and the city government found the acquisition of the building to be reasonable.

Read more in Õhtuleht.

On Thursday afternoon, the Tallinn City Government issued a press release in which Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski stated, "As a parent of a student at Open School, I am too closely involved in this matter and should have recused myself from these discussions earlier. The City Government has not yet made any decisions regarding Open School, and I will be stepping back from the decision-making process."

In the same release, Tallinn Deputy Mayor Aleksei Jašin, who oversees educational matters, noted that discussions about making Open School a municipal school have been ongoing for a long time, and that the school has desired this since its inception.

"Open School has shown initiative and reached out to the Tallinn Education Department as early as the summer of 2022. Since then, there have been meetings between Open School and the Education Department to discuss the possibilities of becoming a municipal school. The discussions gained momentum after RKAS's decision in the second half of 2023 to sell the school building. This decision put the private school in a position where it might have to cease operations in the area, which would leave several hundred children in Põhja-Tallinn without a school place. In such a situation, the local government has an obligation to act to ensure school places for these children," Jašin explained.

He added that the issue is not about choosing between the expansion of Kalamaja School and making Open School a municipal school, as the area needs additional school places for several schools.

"Põhja-Tallinn is a rapidly growing district, and in the coming years, the number of primary school-age children in the area will increase by at least 1,200. Based on this, the previous city government already decided to open a new primary school at Karjamaa 18 in the fall of 2025. Part of the need for school places in the area will be alleviated by the expansion of Jakob Westholm High School, which will add 200 school places. Currently, we are discussing the expansion of Kalamaja School. The discussion about making Open School a municipal school is part of the solution to the area's need for school places, as a municipal school would be able to accommodate larger classes, adding 150 school places. The addition of all these school places would meet the needs of Põhja-Tallinn for the coming years."

According to the Business Register, the Open School Foundation has not submitted its 2023 annual report by the deadline of June 30.

The article was updated to add comments from Jevgeni Ossinovski and Aleksei Jašin.

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