Gyeongbuk Office of Education to Establish 27 Classes for Chilgok Special School in Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle, and High Schools... Opening in 2028

The Gyeongbuk Office of Education (Superintendent Lim Jong-sik) announced on the 26th that the (tentatively named) Chilgok Special School will open on March 1, 2028, in the Ponam-ri area of Seokjeok-eup, Chilgok-gun.

This project was promoted to address the long-distance commuting of special education students and to alleviate overcrowding at special schools in the southwestern region of Gyeongbuk.

Gyeongbuk Office of Education.

The school will be established on a site of 20,903 square meters with a total project cost of approximately 49.1 billion KRW, comprising 27 classes for 150 students: 1 kindergarten class, 12 elementary school classes, 6 middle school classes, 6 high school classes, and 2 specialized courses.

The (tentatively named) Chilgok Special School received establishment approval from the Ministry of Education's central investment review in April 2022 and was initially planned to open on March 1, 2027. However, due to difficulties in land acquisition negotiations, the opening has been inevitably postponed by one year.

The school establishment site consists of 20 parcels: 18 private and 2 national. Currently, all parcels except one private parcel have been acquired, and all land has been rezoned for school use.

For the one remaining unacquired parcel, final negotiations with the landowner will be conducted in February. If acquisition through negotiation proves difficult, an expropriation decision will be requested from the Central Land Expropriation Committee.

The future schedule includes a design competition and design in 2024, facility construction starting in 2025, school name selection and preparation for opening in 2027, with the school planned to open on March 1, 2028.

Park Yong-jo, Director of Administration at the Gyeongbuk Office of Education, stated, “To promptly resolve the hardship of special students commuting long distances, the opening cannot be delayed any further. We will do our best to ensure the school opens normally in 2028 through active communication and cooperation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.