Jekabpils school cancels planned 10th grade in Sala

Jēkabpils 3rd Secondary School will not open a 10th-grade class in Sala this school year after the number of registered students fell below the required minimum, LSM’s Vidusdaugava Television reported. Parents and the local secondary school say they received conflicting information, while the school leadership denies trying to discourage students from enrolling.

At a meeting of the Jēkabpils municipality committee, Sala resident Sintija Griškena said her son was unable to begin 10th grade in Sala. She said she had studied at Sala Secondary School, her daughter had graduated from its 12th grade, and she had hoped her son could do the same.

Because of reforms, Sala Secondary School can no longer enrol new upper-secondary students. The municipality therefore planned to establish a location in Sala for Jēkabpils 3rd Secondary School’s educational programme. At least 15 students were needed to open the 10th grade.

Sala Secondary School director Sanita Sirmoviča, who is currently on parental leave, said the school had received 17 applications and passed them on to Jēkabpils 3rd Secondary School.

However, Jēkabpils 3rd Secondary School announced at the end of August that the class would not open. The school said it had received 17 applications during the summer, but some students had also enrolled at other schools. By August 25, only nine students were registered in Sala.

Jēkabpils 3rd Secondary School director Ligita Ašnevica said parents had to choose one school if a student had been accepted by two or three institutions. She said the students in question chose another school, which then removed them from Jēkabpils 3rd Secondary School’s lists and added them to its own.

The Sala school said it learned about the reduced number of students only at the end of August, and from parents. Griškena said she enrolled her son at another school only after the official announcement that the class in Sala would not open.

She also said that some parents may have acted differently after receiving a call on July 13. According to Griškena, the call from the Jēkabpils 3rd Secondary School director clearly suggested that the class in Sala would not open and attempted to dissuade her from enrolling her son there.

Jēkabpils 3rd Secondary School’s leadership denies making such attempts.