HEAT-FREE IN SCHOOL

definition

When it gets particularly hot in summer, students may be able to get heat-free and be dismissed from school or may not have to come to school at all. Heat-free refers to the failure of school lessons due to particularly high outside temperatures. The decision-making power over the granting of heat free rests with the individual school principals and differs in the different federal states of Germany.

From how many degrees is there a heat-free?

In Germany, there are regional differences in the exemption from heat. There are federal states that require certain temperatures, while in other federal states school principals give heat-free at their own discretion. For example, in order to be free of heat in Bremen, the school building must be at least 25 degrees. In North Rhine-Westphalia there is a minimum room temperature of over 27 degrees. In Saxony-Anhalt there is no heat for schoolchildren if the classroom reaches at least 26 degrees Celsius at eleven in the morning.

In Brandburg, heat-free applies if there is 25 degrees in the shade at 10 a.m. or a room temperature of 25 degrees at 11 a.m. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania stipulates that heat-free is only pronounced when the heat and humidity no longer appear reasonable for the students. In Berlin or Bavaria there are no degrees of heat freedom. Heat is handled similarly flexibly in Saarland. The state prefers part-time heat-free at particularly high temperatures in order to retain as much school material as possible.

What does the school law say?

The right to heat-free is regulated differently in the school laws of the federal states. In Baden-Wuerttemberg the school principals decide freely about heat-free. In Hesse, on particularly hot days, lessons in the elementary level and medium-level materials may be designed as alternatives when it is hot, i.e. projects at other learning locations instead of the regular lessons. In addition, homework can be waived in Hessen and lessons can be ended after the fifth hour.
In Lower Saxony, the school principal may give secondary level 1 heat-free. The school law of North Rhine-Westphalia allows the secondary level 1 to be free of heat if the school principal considers it necessary. At the same time, it is stipulated in North Rhine-Westphalia that secondary level 2 has no right to be heat-free. In Rhineland-Plant and Schleswig-Holstein, the school principal is free to decide when to issue heat-free for which secondary level.

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Are there differences between primary school and high school?

The school laws of the federal states determine more or less specifically which areas of the school get heat-free under which conditions. A few federal states subdivide the secondary level 1 from the secondary level 2. The secondary level 2, i.e. the upper level, even has a ban on heat-free in North Rhine-Westphalia. In other federal states, such as Hesse or Lower Saxony, attendance is only regulated for secondary level 1, so that the upper level is dismissed at the head of school's discretion. In Hesse, heat-free is regulated for the basic level and intermediate level (secondary level 1). Lessons can be more relaxed, there are no homework and the lesson ends after the fifth period.

The situation is similar in Lower Saxony, where it is stipulated that the school principal may give secondary level 1 heat-free. North Rhine-Westphalia also allows secondary level 1 to be granted heat-free at the discretion of the school principal, while in secondary level 2 heat-free is prohibited according to the school law. According to this, primary school children in most federal states are dismissed from classes at high temperatures at the discretion of the school principal. The differences between primary school and secondary level 1 differ significantly in federal states such as North Rhine-Westphalia.

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