Consolidation of kindergartens into one institution. The Tartu Regional Court suspended the merger of the kindergartens in Narva. Prospects and development of educational complexes

At a briefing held on April 16, 2015 by Nizhny Novgorod Deputy Head of Administration Maria Kholkina, journalists were told in detail how kindergartens are being optimized, what will happen to schools in Nizhny Novgorod, as well as to institutions of additional education.

First of all, Maria Mikhailovna introduced everyone to the following figures:

There are 561 educational institutions in the education system of Nizhny Novgorod. Of these, there are 186 schools, 339 kindergartens, the rest are institutions of additional education: music schools, art schools, sports schools, etc. 111,000 children study in schools, and 63,000 attend kindergartens. In total - 174 thousand children.

Which schools and kindergartens are to be merged?

As the deputy head of the administration of Nizhny Novgorod explained, we have such a geographical and historical reality that some schools are empty. For example, if in the 40s, 50s, 60s. the residential area in the Stankozavod area was rapidly developing - a lot of people worked at the plant, a large number of children studied at school - now, when production has decreased over the past 20 years, the microdistrict is dying out, there are no such number of workers, schools are empty, kindergartens are empty, but the buildings stand. What to do with it? This is where optimization is needed. But how widespread are empty schools in Nizhny Novgorod?

Maria Kholkina cited the following figures: in Nizhny Novgorod, out of 186 schools, up to 100 people study in one school, from 100 to 200 people study in 12 schools, from 200 to 300 people study in 12 schools, from 300 to 500 people study in 29 schools, in 39 schools - from 500 to 700, in 45 - from 700 to 900, and only 31 schools in the city have 900 students and more.

The economic effect, according to experts, is achieved in schools where more than 600 children study. If there are less than 600 students in schools, they are not yet called small, but these are schools that are not economically viable. Why? Because the school building is designed for 1,000 students, it must be maintained, in addition to teachers, it is necessary to maintain technical support staff: supply manager, locksmith, electrician, etc. But school money is now allocated according to the number of students! And in the classes of such a school, instead of the normative 25 people, for example, 17 or even 14 people study. And for such a number of students there should be a full set of teachers in all subjects who need to be paid salaries from the same money. It is clear that the shortage of students in the school becomes economically inefficient.

“So, when we analyzed all this,” said Maria Mikhailovna, “in September 2014, we had a kind of explosion. The directors did not expect such an economic effect. And it turned out that 231 million rubles were not enough for salaries in the city. This is great! Now, when a sufficiently large amount of time has passed, the directors understood everything - this is how the new system works. Now the principal can't afford a part-time head teacher who also does OBZh 4 hours a week. It so happened that when we began to study the staffing tables, such amazing distortions opened up for us! If the standard calculates that 30% of the administrative and technical, support staff is allowed in the staffing table of the school, and 70% should be teachers, then we saw that there are schools where this ratio is 50 to 50 and even 60 to 40. That is, that happened?

In accordance with the May 2012 Presidential Decree on salary increases, we are fighting to ensure that teachers have salary increases, and every year we increase them. I can say that in 2011 the average salary of a teacher was 13 thousand rubles, and already in 2014 it was 27 thousand rubles. Some have less, some have more, but the increase in teachers' salaries is quite noticeable. They feel it for themselves. And if teachers complain that there is no growth, we understand. And it turns out that, for example, a physical education teacher has a load of 11 hours a week. What growth are we talking about here?

Exactly the same story, as noted by Maria Kholkina, has been happening with kindergartens since 2015, when per capita funding began. The maintenance of one child costs 63-65 thousand rubles. It is more than at school, because. here the food is different, and the care is different, etc. And the problem with kindergartens is somewhat different. “25% of kindergartens in Nizhny Novgorod are 4-group. Only 4 groups! - explains the deputy head of administration. - But, should there be a manager? Should. There should be a methodologist, a housekeeper - to give out linen, a janitor, a locksmith, cooks ... That is, staff is needed, and there are only four groups. What to do? We need optimization!”

So what is optimization?

As Maria Kholkina explained, this is a necessary association at the level of legal entities. Since small schools and kindergartens do not survive on their own, it means that two legal entities - two schools or a kindergarten - should be made into one.

“That is, we do not touch the building, or the children, or the teaching staff,” Maria Mikhailovna specified. - The buildings are the same, the teachers are the same, we only work with paperwork. For example, we have kindergartens, as they say, "fence to fence" - two legal entities that each have their own head and the entire staff. And we combine them into one, and we get one legal entity not with 4 groups, but with 8, but with one director or manager, one methodologist, etc., and they survive. None of the buildings are being moved anywhere! There is a work only with legal entities, with documents. That is, they took institutions that are located side by side, so that it would be clear to parents, children, and the teaching staff, and combined them into one legal entity. The number of the kindergarten will be the one that was at the kindergarten, to which it legally joins.

School optimization is as follows. For example, two schools are located at a distance of 800 meters from each other. Both schools are empty. When they are merged, it will be one legal entity, with one building housing the elementary school and the other housing the secondary school. Thus, in addition to the economic effect, there will be another very important point - all schoolchildren will be able to study only in the first shift.

What will happen to the employees of the joint institutions?

The deputy head of the administration of Nizhny Novgorod answered this question as follows: “In this case, only those rates that are duplicated are subject to reduction. Cooks, for example, will remain - the cook will not run from one building to another. But why two janitors when he cleaned in 4 hours in one area and left? Or, what is a social educator? There are those who work little by little, say, for 4 hours, in different places. Here we will also look - we need one or two social teachers in the united kindergartens - depending on the contingent and what their workload is. Or a defectologist? He does not work with every child in kindergarten. In addition, children in the kindergarten have a strict regime, i.e. The defectologist does not work with children when they are studying, eating or sleeping. There is such a thing - unloaded.

What will happen to the leaders? It is clear that if 4 kindergartens are merged, as, for example, in the Avtozavodsky district, where preschool educational institutions No. 103, 36, 42 and 99 are merged, then we choose one of the 4 heads, which is young, there is every opportunity to develop this enterprise and then build it up with some interesting ideas: quotas, projects, etc. However, if we see that at the age of 62 the manager will still give odds to 40-year-olds, then we say: you stay, work and teach your shift, transfer all your knowledge and skills. We are fighting to ensure that not a single valuable cadre leaves the education system. We are doing personal work.

Since September 2014, when it all started, 780 units have been excluded from the staff lists - these are vacancies that were a dead burden, or some kind of part-time jobs. Not a single person was reduced, but only positions were excluded. This gave an economic effect of 78 million rubles.

The resolution on the optimization of kindergartens was signed by the head of the administration of Nizhny Novgorod in early April, now everyone has been informed and legal work has begun: it is necessary to rewrite the charter, register the newly formed institution, etc. The resolution on the optimization of schools is still being finalized.

In total, 29 schools in Nizhny Novgorod, 69 kindergartens and 8 organizations of additional education will be involved in the optimization. Thus, out of 106 organizations involved in optimization, the output will be 54.

From September 1, 2014, all kindergartens in Moscow became part of. Perhaps a similar reorganization in the future awaits regional preschool organizations, especially small organizations. Natalia Tverskaya, Director of Education Center No. 345 in Moscow, talks about emerging in the process of merging kindergartens and schools.

Is it worth creatingeducational complexes?

Natalya Viktorovna, tell us about the procedure for merging kindergartens and education center No. 345.

N.T.: For more than 15 years, our education center has included a preschool department located in a separate building. And now, when educational complexes are being created in Moscow, which include several kindergartens, schools and additional education organizations, we have already accumulated a lot of experience working with preschool departments. Currently, the process of reorganization of the educational complex is being completed. It will include two schools, including our education center with a pre-school department, and two kindergartens, which, in turn, were created two years ago through reorganization on the basis of four kindergartens.

Thus, the complex will include five buildings for preschool groups. It should be noted that we are connecting kindergartens of a compensatory type, in which all conditions have been created for children with speech defects, children with disabilities, including those with cerebral palsy. All kindergartens are combined into a structural subdivision of the Preschool Department complex. In addition, each kindergarten will have its own name: "Lukomorye", "Solnyshko" and others.

In your opinion, is the union of kindergartens and schools the right decision?

N.T.: Yes. Firstly, all financial issues should be dealt with by qualified specialists: accountants, economists, lawyers, office staff. They work in the interests of the entire complex, including kindergartens: purchases in a kindergarten within the framework of the 44th federal law are carried out centrally, the accounting service draws up a general plan for financial and economic activities, etc. Of course, not every kindergarten, especially a small one, can afford it all. So I had to train a senior educator or a teacher-psychologist in the organization of purchases or record keeping. And in the educational complex, special centralized services are being created.

Therefore, employees of the preschool department can safely do their favorite thing - raising children. Secondly, a common educational environment is formed in the educational complex, getting into it, preschoolers become part of it. For example, pupils of our preschool department always take part in the activities of the education center together with schoolchildren. This greatly facilitates the adaptation of not only graduates of the preschool department to school, but also their parents, who sometimes experience more than their children. A single parent community is being formed in the educational complex. For parents of preschool children, the tasks facing the school are obvious. When they bring a three-year-old child to the kindergarten, they immediately get acquainted with the school, primary school teachers, get an idea of ​​what awaits their child in the future.

A single parent community is being formed in the educational complex. For parents of preschool children, the tasks facing the school are obvious. When they bring a three-year-old child to the kindergarten, they immediately get acquainted with the school, primary school teachers, get an idea of ​​what awaits their child in the future.

What kind of educational complexes should have?

What is the management structure of preschool departments as part of the educational complex?

N.T.: The educational complex is headed by a director. Kindergartens are supervised by the deputy director for preschool and primary education, thereby ensuring continuity between these levels of education.

Senior teachers work in kindergartens, some of them are former heads. They are directly involved in the organization of the educational process and on all issues they turn to the deputy for preschool and primary education.

Once a week, an administrative meeting is held, in which all deputies participate. We discuss what has been done, what has not been successful and for what reason, what difficulties have arisen, and we set tasks for the next week. If an operational meeting is required, we will meet unscheduled.

In addition, after the merger of the kindergarten and the school, an internal website was created in our education center. Each teacher and educator can access it via a computer or their mobile devices anywhere in the school or kindergarten, since the Internet is available everywhere

I issued an order, according to which all employees of the education center must go to the local network daily at 8 am, 3 pm and 5 pm to view ads in the chat. Head teachers, educators, teachers write in a chat about everything that happens in the education center: holding open classes, holidays, reporting, the release of new documents (which can be found in the same place, on the local network), etc. Thus, a constant communication, and all employees of the education center are in the know. This innovation has been introduced only in our center so far, but after the reorganization we plan to extend it to the entire educational complex

How did you manage to build relationships with the heads of kindergartens? After all, they were actually demoted ...

N.T.: If people still have an interesting job, the prospect of professional growth, respect for children, their parents and colleagues, and all this is provided with decent wages, then people will work with pleasure, no matter what their position is called. In addition, we should not forget that in recent years, the heads of kindergartens have been entrusted with a heavy burden of financial and economic activities in the context of a sharp increase in the independence of educational organizations. And within the framework of the educational complex, this task will be solved by its services.

Staff of educational complexes

What is the ratio of the level of salaries of teachers in the school and in the preschool department?

N.T.: Last year, in our education center, teachers' salaries amounted to approximately 60,000 rubles. In kindergarten, the salary of educators was no more than 30 thousand rubles. - an average of 22-28 thousand rubles. To date, the salary in kindergarten has increased and averages 40 thousand rubles. The possibility of its increase appeared, including at the expense of extrabudgetary funds. Upon completion of the reorganization process, additional funds will appear due to savings, in particular, reduction in utility costs, as a result of optimizing the staffing of the complex and (or) increasing the volume of paid educational services. For example, to clear the roof of snow, the school will pay 100 thousand rubles, each kindergarten - 50 thousand rubles. For us, as a single organization, the same service will cost less - not 250 thousand, but 200 thousand rubles. The money saved can be used to increase salaries. The financial independence of the organization has its advantages - we see how much money we have, we decide where and how it can be distributed.

Did you have to reduce the staff of kindergartens during the reorganization?

N.T.: The fact is that for a year and a half the attendants - nurses and cooks - are not full-time employees of our center. It was always like this at school - a third-party organization with which the Department of Education entered into a service contract was responsible for the nutrition of children. Medical workers were employees of medical institutions.

In kindergartens now also: the Department of Education concludes a contract for three years with an organization that provides food for pupils. At the same time, we managed to leave our chefs in their place. For example, a cook and his assistant, who had worked in our preschool department for 30 years, were transferred to the staff of a food service organization without any loss in salary.

It is more difficult with medical workers: after being transferred to the staff of a medical institution, their wage rates turned out to be lower than in kindergarten. I hope this problem will also be solved in time. In a kindergarten, a medical worker cannot be visiting. The nurse should receive children in the morning and stay in the institution all day, monitor the sanitary and hygienic condition of the premises, the health of the pupils, and carry out preventive measures.

In my opinion, the gradual transfer of all non-core functions to outsourcing is the right decision. Having concluded contracts for security, medical care and catering, we reserve the function of control.

Prospects and development of educational complexes

What are the prospects for the development of kindergartens in your educational complex?

N.T.: Now young families have a great need for nursery groups for children from one and a half years old. Our kindergarten is ready to accept children of this age. We also have teachers who can work with them, and the material base. The preschool department occupies a new building, which was built seven years ago according to a project that provides for the placement of nursery groups.

In addition, we plan to open weekend and short stay groups for children. The services of the weekend group are in great demand by parents, who have the opportunity to leave the child in kindergarten for several hours on Saturday and Sunday.

The increased demand was caused by one more idea. We offered young parents a service to teach how to raise a child. Our teachers provide methodological assistance, advisory support, explain to parents how to teach a child to draw, dress, and be obedient.

What would you wish to the heads of kindergartens who are about to join the school?

N.T.: First of all, don't be afraid to join. Kindergarten and school should be one team! Combining will definitely give a good result. The longer we work with preschoolers, the more I become convinced that this is the case.

There will be practically no relocation, everyone remains in their buildings, but legally it will be one kindergarten. The administrative part is being reduced. This was stated by the Department of Education of the Dobryansky District. However, the editorial office of our newspaper received an e-mail letter on behalf of the "parents of kindergarten No. 10":

“We are concerned that it is planned to merge two kindergartens. Thus, our manager, accountant and other specialists will be laid off.

We believe that it is thanks to the perseverance, determination, and excellent organizational skills of Koskova Galina Nikolaevna that the preschool institution has become a promising development in the city and the region. (...) Correctional work with children in the direction of speech development, sound pronunciation, mental development and diagnostics is carried out by narrow specialists - a speech therapist teacher and an educational psychologist.

We believe that there is no need to unite kindergartens. We, as parents, like our manager, our accounting department, our methodological and pedagogical staff. In the case of a merger, we lose the opportunity to comfortably and quickly regulate issues related to the solution of various nuances in the educational and organizational processes.

Merging involves the following risks:

Mass dismissal of staff;

Merging into a new team, teachers will not be able to pay due attention to children, manifest themselves and develop creatively;

There will be no individual approach to the problems of parents, children and staff;

Personnel changes are possible (hiring new employees; dismissal of narrow specialists, because there is a teacher-psychologist, a speech therapist in kindergarten No. 20), etc.

From the head of education N.M. Semerikova said that there is an opportunity to visit the pool. I wonder what it will look like? Will they take the children to swim in the cold?!

We ask you to leave our kindergarten as an independent unit.”

The appeal of the parents was commented by the head of the Department of Education of the Dobryansky district Natalya Semerikova:

We discussed the issue of reorganizing kindergarten No. 10 with the parents of the children who attend it, the teaching staff, and the governing council of the kindergarten. The main goal of the association is to increase the wages of teachers. All conditions for the stay of children in a preschool institution remain the same. The children will go to the same groups, the teachers will be the same.

As for the swimming pool, which is in kindergarten No. 20, the proposal to visit it with the children of kindergarten No. 10 was made by the parents themselves. And this question is being worked out: at what time they will be able to receive children, where they will undress. Of course, they will be able to go to the pool only in the warm season.

At a meeting with kindergarten staff, none of the teachers expressed a desire to quit. Narrow specialists - a psychologist, a speech therapist - will also remain working in the joint institution. The head of kindergarten No. 10, Galina Nikolaevna Koskova, is an excellent methodologist, she was offered the position of senior teacher. The head of the united institution will be the head of kindergarten No. 20 Tatyana Nikolaevna Tarasenko. So far, the issue of only the accountant and clerk of kindergarten No. 10 has not been resolved. But, given the lack of such specialists, the problem of their employment will certainly be resolved.

The process of merging the two institutions is quite long, we plan that it will be completed by May next year.

An expert commission has been created at the level of the Department of Education, all issues, problems, risks are discussed. But the decision to merge has been made, and it is economically justified. The kindergarten is small, subventions from the regional budget are small, today the institution has tax debts. When merging with Kindergarten No. 20, the costs of the administrative apparatus will decrease, and the salaries of teachers will increase.

As Natalya Semerikova noted, there is no question of merging for some other preschool educational institutions, the district's schools will not be merged with each other either.

Alas, kindergarten No. 1 "Solnyshko" in Polyarnye Zori is no more. Since August 21, it has been closed, fortunately, only on paper. Officially, the institution is merged with kindergarten No. 3. For convenience, the managers decided to call the joyfully sunny building the “Sun” building, and the one behind the police, the “Herringbone” building.

The resolution of the head of the city on the reorganization of two preschool institutions in the form of joining a smaller one to a larger one was issued on April 6, 2015. And already on July 1, in the work books of employees of preschool educational institution No. 1, an entry appeared that they are now working in preschool educational institution No. 3.

In one harness...

New Year 2015 in our municipality was celebrated by six city kindergartens and one village kindergarten (Afrikanda-2). Two of the seven were autonomous. They decided to combine them this year.

Recall that kindergarten No. 3 this year is 41 years old. Prior to the merger, the company had 67 employees. The garden was visited by 240 pupils from 11 groups.

In kindergarten No. 1, the staff before the reorganization was 28 people, one of them worked at 0.75 rates, there were 4 groups, the total number of children was 75 people. The kindergarten will be four years old in 2015.

To date, the united preschool educational institution has 15 groups, 315 pupils and 94 employees. The head of the kindergarten is Elena Sergeevna Munko. The former head of preschool educational institution No. 1, Lyubov Albertovna Drugova, is now the senior educator of preschool educational institution No. 3, who oversees the work of the Sun building. With Lyubov Albertovna and Elena Sergeevna, we are talking about the pros and cons of the reorganization.

Bigger garden, better funding

“Together with the resolution,” says the manager, “we received a list of measures that had to be carried out as part of the reorganization. The procedure itself is quite lengthy, but today the process is almost completed.

We started with meetings of labor collectives and parents' meetings in both institutions. They talked about the upcoming changes, answered numerous questions. The bottom line is that no deterioration was expected. The reorganization did not directly affect children, let alone parents. Nobody transferred children or teachers anywhere. It’s just that now the “Solnyshko” building and the “Herringbone” building are one institution, one common house.

There were questions from employees about layoffs. We explained that the reorganization of such measures does not involve. As a result, each employee remained at his workload, somewhere there are even improvements. So, from October 1, the psychologist "Sun" will have a full rate (previously, the load was 0.5 rates). The workload of the speech therapist will increase: from October 1, she will work in both buildings for one and a half rates. The nurse had a 0.75 rate, now it's full. We managed to increase the workload due to internal movements, and we did not have to look for employees from outside.

According to Elena Munko, the second positive aspect is the opportunity to stimulate the work of working personnel, whose wages are financed from the local budget.

Another achievement, according to the head, was the fulfillment of the obligations taken to parents that in the summer, when the number of children and caregivers is temporarily reduced, all children will remain in their places. True, speaking of prudent spending of budgetary funds, Elena Sergeevna does not exclude the possibility that separate premises will be vacated next summer.

“We are state people,” the manager explains, “we understand why this is happening. And if there is an opportunity to use some means more rationally, we will try to do it.”

And one more plus from the association is, according to E.S. Munko, that per capita funding will now allow the kindergarten to make expensive acquisitions. Previously, for the "Sun", where there were 75 children, large purchases were, as they say, unaffordable.

The main thing - no sudden movements!

The most important thing, - Lyubov Albertovna Drugova enters into the conversation, - is that the reorganization did not directly affect teachers, they work with children, each in their own building, separately. Passions have already subsided, parents have calmed down. The safety of children is at the same high level.

- Lyubov Albertovna, probably, it is most difficult for you, because before you were the actual mistress of the "Sun"?

Here, of course, a tactful approach is important. It is difficult for Elena Sergeevna to immediately enter into the problems of our kindergarten and understand what is happening. Moreover, we worked on different programs. It is not that simple. Now I just oversee my institution as a senior educator ...

According to the staff list, we have two senior educators, - Elena Munko confirms, - but Lyubov Albertovna works as a curator. I can't be in two different buildings at the same time, and yet something happens all the time in the kindergarten. And Lyubov Albertovna makes decisions independently on many issues.

In general, the organization process is still only being established. We are thinking about how we can hold parent-teacher meetings, pedagogical meetings, where to gather territorially. I will need to schedule my work so that I can be in one kindergarten and another. And which option will be optimal, while it is difficult to say. I understand that everything will be resolved. Life will tell. The main thing is to be optimistic about what is happening.

Indeed, - confirms L.A. Drugova, - in terms of organization, we still have more questions than answers. But now you just need to work. And there is still a lot of work ahead. In connection with the reorganization, we will have to go through the licensing procedures for educational activities, medical…

And this also needs money, - Elena Munko agrees. - In order to exchange experience, we went to Apatity, where we have already experienced the process of merging kindergartens and are waiting for the second wave, during which three kindergartens will be merged. But they have their own specifics - kindergartens in Apatity were originally small, four to six groups each. Colleagues admitted that it was difficult to adapt through trial and error. And so we decided to do without sudden movements, we will do everything together, make decisions deliberatively.

Speaking about the need to obtain licenses, Elena Munko and Lyubov Albertovna modestly kept silent about the fact that a titanic work has already been done on the reorganization. But things are still unfinished. All documents will have to be changed, and this is very serious. The workload is colossal, and this is one of the disadvantages of the reorganization. And then there are all kinds of checks - ministerial and local - for fire safety, compliance with sanitary safety rules, etc. However, the garden is ready for this.

Two pairs of shoes and... congratulations!

- Will the reorganization affect the traditional distribution of kindergarten graduates by school?- I ask a question to both interlocutors.

As long as everything remains in its place,” the manager smiles, “after all, no one has canceled the principle of territoriality. We hope the traditions will be preserved.

- Speaking of traditions, is there something that one team would like to borrow from another?

You know, - Elena Munko is the first to respond, - we found out that we have the same leadership style. We are similar. And we will adopt traditions.

Now we do not need drastic changes, - continues Lyubov Albertovna. We will gradually change. In Yolochka, for example, there was a strong military-patriotic orientation. We had a family-type kindergarten. Let's learn from each other...

We have already decided, - Elena Munko shares her plans, - that we will try to unite the teams, celebrate anniversaries and holidays together. I think there will be reciprocity...

- Elena Sergeevna, do you already know all your new subordinates?

Many I knew before. I can still confuse patronymics, but I think I recognize everyone by sight.

- And now you probably have two offices?

Well, of course, I have no time to sit in the office. But I already have interchangeable shoes in the “Sun” building. And my shoes are standing next to Lyubov Albertovna's shoes ...

Will the reorganization that has taken place be reflected in your wishes to the united team in connection with the upcoming professional holiday?

In our life, - Elena Munko is the first to take the floor, - now there are many innovations, not all of them, perhaps, are rosy. That is why we all need patience. Of course, our financial situation does not always meet expectations, and not everything depends on the leaders, but I still want to wish you well.

Patience to you, my dear colleagues, health and, of course, human happiness. And we will try to do everything possible so that everything is fine at work!

This holiday is recent, as young as our garden, - continues Lyubov Albertovna. - I would like to congratulate everyone and wish in our difficult and even aggressive time, of course, health, creative success, a pleasant environment and a sunny mood. Let at least this day everything will be fine!

Scandals around the merger of schools into "educational complexes" do not stop in the capital. Parents of students of progymnasium No. 1651 in the Moscow district of Yuzhnoye Tushino say that it is threatened with closure after merging with two more schools (No. 680 and No. 106) and two kindergartens.

According to them, when the issue of unification was decided last year, parents were assured that this was being done to “settle financial issues,” and for students, the reorganization was nothing more than a change of the tablet.

Progymnasium No. 1651 has been teaching children of preschool and primary school age for 20 years. For kids, the most comfortable conditions have been created to ensure a smooth transition from kindergarten to primary school, parents say. An excellent teaching staff has formed here, graduates enter the best secondary schools in Moscow, including the Kurchatov School located in the district.

“We didn’t have any falsifications, as they say about other schools, during the merger,” one of the parents said. - Our director was explained that the gymnasium, in which there are only 8 classes and 2 kindergarten groups, cannot survive on its own in the new conditions. She believed herself and was able to persuade us (and it cost a lot of work) to agree to a merger with two mediocre schools.

But already in September, after the merger documents were signed, an instruction was received to disband the progymnasium. At the very first meeting, the director announced that the existing classes would be distributed to other schools, and new ones would not be recruited.

According to parents, first-graders, graduates of the preparatory group of the gymnasium, found themselves in a particularly difficult situation. They couldn't get into any decent school. Parents' appeals to all possible authorities up to the president (the letter to Putin was sent to the city department of education and subsequently read out at a meeting at the school) played a role. Enrollment in the first grades was open, the students were left to finish their studies in the same building, but it was not ruled out that they would finish primary school in other educational institutions.

“Now the department has found a new trick: non-compliance with sanitary standards – rules,” Petrovskaya said. - The gymnasium is located in a building intended for a kindergarten, it does not have a separate dining room, and the ceiling height in the gym is only 4 meters instead of the required 6 meters. And, although the requirements for 6-meter ceilings do not apply to our kids, but to high school students, this may well enough to take away the building from the gymnasium.

On Tuesday, a meeting of parents of students with the leader took place near the building of the progymnasium. According to Mitrokhin, the director of the joint complex (formerly head of school No. 680) who was passing by joined the discussion and then invited the audience to enter the school, although she initially did not agree to holding a meeting within the walls of the school. After listening to the parents' claims, the director agreed with their demands "to jointly think over the external or internal reorganization of the gymnasium premises, making them comply with SanPiNam", which would allow the institution to be preserved. A meeting to discuss possible redevelopment or an extension that would allow separate dining and gym space will be held this coming Saturday.

“There are 35 pre-gymnasiums in Moscow, half of them are located in the buildings of kindergartens, and extensions have already been made to many,” Petrovskaya said. - I myself am a designer, among us there are two architects, we imagine how to do it. But we started by sending letters to various charitable foundations, as well as to wealthy people - Prokhorov, Potanin, Deripaska. Of course, we have no chances to get into the Capital Education program with this extension.”

Letters to potential philanthropists were sent out only today, so there are no answers from them yet.

According to Mitrokhin, the "unexpected concern of officials" about compliance with SanPiNs is nothing more than a pretext for the reorganization of the gymnasium, which "is carried out solely in the interests of the bureaucracy and has nothing to do with improving the quality of the educational process." “On the example of progymnasium No. 1651, one can understand the absurdity of the school reform being carried out in Moscow. The creation of school holdings destroys teaching staff, destroys unique educational institutions that demonstrate the high quality of education and evoke only positive feedback from parents, ”the Yabloko leader believes.

The principal of the school refused to give her opinion on the impending liquidation of the progymnasium and measures to save it. According to Ilyina, she will not discuss this issue with the press. “These are internal problems of the gymnasium, and I will discuss them with my parents,” she said. The possibility of the presence of the journalist "Gazeta.Ru" at the upcoming meeting with the parents on Saturday director, according to her, "should agree with his leadership."

Meanwhile, this "leadership" - the district administration of the Department of Education - received the highest praise from the city government the day before. As Isaak Kalina, head of the department, said at a government meeting on Tuesday, the Northwestern District “most of all took advantage of the opportunities of Decree No. 86 of May 22, 2011” (“On a Pilot Project for the Development of General Education in the City of Moscow”). 66 educational complexes have been created in SZAO, which include 212 institutions. Almost 76,000 children study there.

“26% of all educational complexes of the city have been created on the territory of the district,” the head of the department praised the district education department.

According to him, as a result of the merger of schools, the administrative and managerial apparatus was reduced by 37%, and teachers' salaries increased by 41%. The head of the department also referred to the results of the creation of educational complexes the improvement of the quality of education, “the formation of a unified cultural and educational environment of the microdistrict, consolidating its residents”, “expanding the choice of educational services and programs”, and even “reducing the level of asocial manifestations” on the part of children and adolescents.

In addition, according to the department, the result of the last two years was “an increase in the level of satisfaction of the population with the educational services provided by the education system. (According to an e-journal survey of parents, satisfaction increased from 47% in 2010 to 75% in April 2012.)

“The school has changed a lot in recent years, and those people who studied 30-40 years ago, probably, to some extent, experience nostalgia for the school they studied at. And we studied in good schools, but today they cannot meet the requirements that we present today, ”said Kalina. The unification of schools caused by the needs of the time is necessary not only to save money, but also to create a normal educational environment: students have more opportunities to choose different educational profiles and programs, Kalina believes.

And according to Sergey Sobyanin, the opinion of parents whose children attend Moscow schools differs from the opinion of people who are not related to the school today.

“Those who do not face the school also speak their mind. And this opinion is much worse, because they do not know about the changes that are taking place in schools, and, perhaps, they judge how it was at the time when their children went there. Therefore, in general, it is necessary to inform Muscovites more actively about the changes that are taking place in education. Because it turns out a big difference in relation to those citizens who are now in contact with the education system, whose children go to schools today, and in general, in the whole population,” the mayor said.

A member of the Coordinating Council under the President for the implementation of the national strategy of action in the interests of children, the executive director of the regional public organization "Charity Center" Complicity in Fate "considers it "unacceptable" to unite thousands of "holdings" of schools, especially those that are different in essence. “It is completely incomprehensible what the unification of schools that is taking place in Moscow is based on,” the expert says. - It is not motivated by the interests of children, it seems to me that this is done solely from the point of view of saving money and nothing more. But this is exactly the case when it is not necessary to save. This situation was not discussed with specialists, with experts. Recently, it has been customary for us not to listen to objections and not to consult with anyone, the boss made a decision - and that’s it.”