Newly opened public school must improve local educational conditions. NSA ruling

• In order to establish a public school, there must be a demand in the local government community for the establishment of a school providing education in a given profession, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled on May 7, 2025.
• An entity waiting to open a public school must demonstrate that opening its school will improve the conditions of education. Proving the existence of such a premise cannot be left to the body issuing the decision.
• There is no need, however, for every city to have a post-secondary school offering education in every profession - informs Prawo.pl.

The Foundation has asked the city president to give its consent to establish a Public Post-Secondary School for the profession of orthoptist. The president refused to accept this idea, but it was supported by the Silesian Education Superintendent in Katowice, who refused to grant permission to establish the school. According to the authorities, establishing a new school will not improve the conditions of education and will not have a positive impact on the current network of public schools in the city , where other public post-secondary schools are already operating - informs Prawo.pl.

In the town where the school was to be established, there was no possibility of choosing the orthoptist course, i.e. a specialist in treating strabismus and visual acuity, in a post-secondary school, but it was possible to study this course in a neighboring town. In total, there are eight post-secondary schools in the Upper Silesian conurbation that offer orthoptist training, including two post-secondary public schools that provide free education.

The Foundation appealed to the Voivodship Administrative Court in Gliwice (reference number III SA/Gl 462/23), which dismissed the complaint, indicating that one of the conditions for obtaining a permit to establish a school is a beneficial addition to the network of public schools for the residents . However, the Voivodship Administrative Court did not find a beneficial addition to the network of public schools in this town.

In addition, the WSA indicated that the evidence collected showed that the course was not popular - one of the public schools in the Silesian Voivodeship, which offers candidates free education in the profession of orthoptist, did not launch education in this course due to the lack of willing candidates. In turn, in another school in the last three years there was not a single inquiry about the possibility of education in this profession.

In the opinion of the WSA, since the course is not very popular, there is no need to launch this course in a given town. People who want to study this course can take advantage of education in a neighboring town. Refusal to grant a permit for studying as an orthoptist does not therefore constitute a restriction on access to studying this profession.

The Foundation filed a cassation appeal. The Supreme Administrative Court noted that a permit to establish a public school or facility is granted if the establishment of a school in the location indicated by the founder will contribute to the improvement of educational conditions, and will also beneficially supplement the network of public schools in that location, commune, district, province or region.

A beneficial addition to the school network refers to the creation of new schools or educational institutions that meet the educational needs of the local community and are effective in implementing their mission, which means that there is both a demand for education to be provided by the newly created school and the existing school network is insufficient in this respect. More precisely, in the local government community there must be a demand for the creation of a school educating in a given profession.

Meanwhile, as it results from the case file, the complainant failed to demonstrate that opening her school would improve the conditions of education . Only in the appeal against the first-instance decision does the argument appear that promoting the improvement of the quality of education consists in increasing the accessibility of learning the profession of orthoptist, which is not offered by any school operating in the city of B.

The NSA stressed that the complaining foundation should have included an argument about promoting the improvement of educational conditions already at the application submission stage, but it was missing. However, the burden of proving the existence of this premise cannot be passed on to the bodies that are to assess whether the premise has been met .

In turn, in the matter of the beneficial addition to the school network, the foundation only indicated that it would include the possibility of e-mail contact with teachers outside of classes and the possibility of using an educational platform, where instead of textbooks there will be educational materials. Such argumentation, in the opinion of the NSA, does not indicate that this premise has been met.

Moreover, the Supreme Administrative Court agrees with the Provincial Administrative Court that not every city should have a post-secondary school offering education in every profession - informs Prawo.pl.

The Supreme Administrative Court dismissed the cassation appeal.

Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 7 May 2025, III OSK 1083/24