Apply for approval of a substitute school in the state of Bremen

In Germany, freedom of private education is guaranteed in the Basic Law, which means that everyone has the right to establish a private alternative school. However, because a private alternative school is also under the supervision of the state and its foundation is tied to prerequisites, an alternative school can only be founded if this has been approved in advance by the competent authority.

You must apply for approval from the competent authority in good time and attach a variety of documents to the application. With these documents, you must prove that the requirements for approval are met.

If you meet all the requirements, you are entitled to have the competent body grant you permission to operate the alternative school. Otherwise, your application will be rejected.

Requirements

You must be personally reliable and financially capable. Appropriate proof of this must be provided (extended certificate of good conduct as well as proof that you can bear your share of the costs for the current and the two following financial years). The alternative school must be operated on a non-profit basis and without the intention of making a profit.

The school you plan to establish must be equivalent to a corresponding public school in terms of:

• Educational goals and objectives
• facilities (for example, the school building)
• academic training of the teaching staff.

All three aspects should ultimately ensure that at the end of their school career, students at your school will be able to achieve the same level of education as would be possible at a public school.

In order to provide teachers with a living wage that is commensurate with their status, their salaries must be in line with those of public school teachers. The salary of teachers at your school may not be more than 20% less than the salary of comparable teachers at public schools.

For the approval of an elementary school, there must be a special pedagogical interest or, at the request of legal guardians, a confessional or ideological school is to be established which does not yet exist in this form as a public school.

If school fees are to be charged, the ban on special education must be observed and care must be taken to ensure that low-income families can also pay the school fees.

What documents do I need?

• To the school board
  
  • Designation
    
    • Individuals: Name, address, curriculum vitae, current extended certificate of good conduct
    • Legal entities or associations of persons: Name, legal form, registered office/address
  • Only for legal entities or associations of persons:
    
    • Articles of association or shareholders' agreement
    • current excerpt from the register of associations or the commercial register
    • List of persons acting on your behalf
  • For the individual or each acting person
    
    • Current extended certificate of good conduct
    • Tabular curriculum vitae with surname and first name, date and place of birth,
    • Nationality and address
• To the substitute school
  
  • Name of the school, type of school, school level, and, if applicable, the special educational focus
  • Designation of the educational plan
  • Complete educational plan and timetable, insofar as these do not correspond to the state regulations
  • In the case of elementary schools, a concept justifying the special educational interest
  • Size, structure and form of organization as well as the educational program
  • Address
• About the school management and teachers
  
  • List of persons, each with first name, surname, nationality, professional qualification, the subject and the years in which you want to employ the teacher.
    
    • certificates, other proof of suitability
    • current extended certificate of good conduct for submission to an authority (§ 30 a Federal Central Register Law)
    • the intended employment contract
• To the school building
  
  • List of used rooms with indication of their purpose and size
  • Site plan
  • Floor plan scale 1:100
  • Floor space calculation according to DIN 277
  • Fire inspection report
  • Proof that a school may be operated in the building according to building law.
  • Proof that you are allowed to use the building (extract from the land register, rental agreement, rental option).
  • Proof that you are allowed to use sports facilities.
• On the financing of the alternative school
  
  • Do you plan to charge tuition to students' parents and, if so, in what amount?
  • Your budget planning for the year of the start of operation and the two following budget years.
  • Proof that you will be able to pay your share of the costs during this period (for example, by means of a bank guarantee).
  • Written and legally binding signed statement as to whether you intend to claim rent and lease for the school buildings and premises.