As part of a ceremony, the state government handed over the first grant notification for 642,052 euros from the school construction programme to the Saarpfalz district in the canteen of the Homburg I community school, Robert Bosch School.
As early as last summer, the Saarpfalz district, as the school authority, initiated the energy-efficient refurbishment of the school's building envelope with initial concrete renovation work. The existing flat roof has now been replaced by a monopitch roof, which also benefits from the above-mentioned subsidies. The next step will be to renovate the windows and the façade.
The fact that this event was a focal point was evident from the respectable guest list. Headmistress Barbara Neumann welcomed Minister of Construction Reinhold Jost and Minister of Education Christine Streichert-Clivot as well as District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo. Theophil Gallo, Torsten Lang, State Secretary in the Ministry of Construction, Jürgen Leroux, Head of Property Management at Saarpfalz-Kreis, Christin Omlor, member of the Technical Property Management Department, Christine Trouvain, Acting Head of the School Administration Department, other ministry employees, members of the state parliament, members of the district council, the parents' and pupils' representatives and the teaching staff.
As the refurbishment is taking place while the school is in operation, Barbara Neumann knew how to incorporate a few anecdotes into her humorous speech. The focus then turned to the school building programme.
"The state is standing firmly by the Saarland municipalities - and by its word! The handover of this first decision marks the start of the distribution of the additional financial resources that we have provided as part of our BAUSTEIN school construction programme to ensure a modern and sustainable education infrastructure together with the towns and municipalities. This is one of the most important tasks of politics. After all, our schools are the places where the next generations will learn how to shape a positive future for themselves, society and our homeland. That is why we must create the best possible conditions in Saarland's teaching and learning facilities," emphasised Construction Minister Reinhold Jost. Education Minister Christine Streichert-Clivot confirmed: "Good education needs a modern environment - because learning is best in a modern and well-equipped school."
District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo would also like to see the schools run by the Saarpfalz district in a contemporary, modern condition. "The refurbishment backlog at our schools cannot be denied and we are not taking this lightly. The fact is that the Saarpfalz district has always done its homework, especially in recent years, and that we are continuously working on clearing this backlog of renovation work from previous years and investing large sums in the school buildings every year. I am all the more grateful that we are now the first district to be able to use funds from the state's funding programme for the necessary "renovation project" Robert Bosch School and that we are also receiving effective support from the state in our own efforts," said the district administrator.
Jürgen Leroux added on the construction project: "Despite the relatively simple cubature of the building, some very complex connection details had to be solved here. These include the different position of the windows in the basement of the building to those in the rest of the building, which in turn has a major impact on the thickness of the insulation. We want to complete the measures in the course of the coming year. The estimated costs currently total four million euros gross."
Even before the official symbolic handover of the cheque, the pupils took the helm. They proudly presented their model Bosch city, which is the size of a classroom and which they use in their lessons to learn about renewable forms of energy in a very practical way. The in-house chickens were also one of the highlights of the day - after all, not every school can boast freshly laid eggs when serving school meals. Incidentally, the Minister and the District Administrator also enjoyed this, as the pupils not only presented them with self-made solar houses from the model town, but also a small basket of fresh eggs to mark the upcoming Easter period.