Local government will strive to make the court reopen the case of the Lelewel school

The local government made a request to the Supreme Administrative Court for reopening the case of the Lelewel school.

Parents of students attending the Engineering Lelewel School appealed the decision of the Vilnius City Council to move students from the building in the Antakalnis to the adjacent neighbourhood Žirmūnai. At the end of February this year the Supreme Administrative Court took their side.

According to some representatives of the Joachim Lelewel School, the decision taken by the local government was a deliberate act to destroy Polish education in Antakalnis. “The decision of city authorities (coalition of liberals and conservatives) to move the Lelewel School from Antakalnis to Žirmūnai was outrageous and inconsistent with one of the fundamental assumptions of educational reform – optimization of schools distribution. These actions are unlawful and outrageous for Polish and Russian communities living in this large Vilnius neighbourhood, Antakalnis” – reads the statement written in October and signed by: Krystyna Adamowicz, graduates’ association “Always faithful to the Five” (“Zawsze wierni Piątce”), Renata Cytacka, Starost of the EAPL-CFA in the Local Government of the Vilnius City, Danuta Narbut, Chairwoman of the Forum of Parents of Polish Schools in Vilnius, and Beata Bartoszewicz, the Chairwoman of the School Defence Committee.

The local government made a request to the court for clarification of the decision taken on 20 February on the Joachim Lelewel High School.

The city council stated that the court’s ruling lacks clarity as regards its enforcement since overruling a decision of 2015 does not directly cancel decisions on reorganization, and the school makes it impossible to return to the previous situation.

The Engineering School of Lelewel has been already moved to the building at the 3 Minties Street in Vilnius and operates in accordance with the law of 24 August 2016 adopted by the Vilnius City Council. At the 33 Antakalnio Street, in the previous Lelewel school building, another school is situated now – Antakalnis Progimnazjum School.

Due to the court’s decision the meeting of the city council on renaming the school – from the Engineering High School of Lelewel in Vilnius to a junior high school – has been postponed.

“The local government of the Vilnius City will strive to make the court reopen that case and reconsider it. Otherwise, legal situation of the school will be unclear. That matter also concerns Antakalnis Progimnazjum which was moved to the previous building of the Lelewel school” – reads the statement put on the website of the Vilnius local government.