“We need the green light for the Gymnasium Ost”
In a guest article, city student spokesman Hannes Kaulfersch, 18 years old, appealed to the Roman coalition to no longer stand in the way of building a high school.
It is the first public dispute within the Roman coalition: the question of the location of the Gymnasium Ost. Everyone knows that the school is urgently needed. But where they should be built is controversial – wrongly so. Because the answer is actually obvious.
The Gymnasium Ost was decided in 2017 by the city council, the building area was a former garden center between Wasser- and Günthersburgpark. But in the course of the protests for the preservation of the “Green Lung” not only the plans for the 1500 apartments in the Günthersburghöfe were put on hold – but also the plans for the Gymnasium Ost. The citizens’ initiative “Green Lung” seems to be partially successful. Because the coalition disagrees, which means that the implementation of the high school is at least delayed. The site is not only ideally suited for a school, but is also largely sealed. You don’t have to be a landscape ecologist to see this. A look at the area with Google Earth is enough.
In principle, it is correct to consider the ecological aspect. With roof and facade greening, a school garden or photovoltaic systems, a school can also be built sustainably. The green surroundings of the location in the Günthersburghöfe could even be integrated into the school concept as an environmental focus.
But the citizens’ initiative “Green Lung” not only rejects the claim that the area of the former garden center is unsealed, far out the window. The argument that children running around could threaten biodiversity in the surrounding gardens is also unconvincing. Child-friendly urban development works differently.
A child-friendly urban development includes, for example, that sufficient school places are available in all parts of the city. In the east of Frankfurt, however, things are different. It is particularly noticeable there that Frankfurt is a rapidly growing city. As early as the 2020/2021 school year, the need for grammar school places in the eastern educational region could no longer be covered by the existing schools. The secondary schools are full. And the situation is getting worse every year. The Gymnasium Ost is also urgently needed. As a city, we cannot afford a further delay in the school building project – and we cannot expect the children to do so.
But couldn’t one also mention an alternative location for the Gymnasium Ost? You could – if the city had enough free space available. However, the search for school building sites is anything but easy and can sometimes take years. But even if another site were found for the Gymnasium Ost, it would no longer be available for one of the three other schools in the east of Frankfurt, which according to the school development plan also have to be built in the next few years.
After the Head of Education first announced that she was not planning to use the northern area of Günthersburg Park, she now turned around: she announced that she now wanted to examine how the Gymnasium Ost could be built on the originally planned area. Good news.
Not only in the east of Frankfurt, but throughout Frankfurt, many schools must be built in the next few years. The lack of space poses immense challenges for the city. The fact that, as in the case of the Gymnasium Ost, even suitable building sites are frivolously questioned should not set a precedent.