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full screen Exterior of Academedia in Liljeholmen in southern Stockholm.. Stock photography. Photo: Jessica Gow/AP/TT
The independent school group Academedia is entitled to compensation of SEK 6.5 million for operations in Södertälje – despite Academedia not having had corresponding expenses.
It is the result of a previous judgment in the administrative court.
The verdict’s consequences will be strange, believes the chairman of the board of education in Södertälje, Elof Hansjons (S), according to the newspaper Dagens Samhälle. He calls it “completely giddy”.
The reason for the retroactive payment is that Södertälje chose to close a secondary school, but let the students complete their education – which meant a higher cost for the municipality.
At the same time, Södertälje had to delay compensation for deficits calculated for the years 2018–2021. According to the municipal law, private independent schools also have the right to receive the same deficit compensation – and therefore Södertälje gave 7.6 million kroner in deficit compensation to Academedia last year, writes DN.
What Södertälje did not count on was the extra cost of the closed Wendela Hebbe high school – which received extra compensation when the students had to complete their education.
– We didn’t think it was reasonable to provide deficit compensation for the years we had increased costs due to dismantling a high school. The independent schools did not have these costs, says Hansjons to the newspaper DN.
But the administrative court gave Academedia the right to an additional SEK 6.5 million in deficit compensation.
Academedia’s chief legal officer Jonas Nordström states that the law means that “all students must receive the same compensation for their education – regardless of school”, writes DN.