School that left four-year-old boy out in the cold has to restructure

De Vloedlijn was in the news in February when a video was made of a child who was standing outside a glass door as punishment. He was wearing only a long-sleeved T-shirt and indicated that he was cold. The school then launched an internal investigation against the teacher involved.

Weyts now says that after an inspection by the inspectorate, serious problems have come to light in the school, and also in Huis aan Zee in De Haan. In Huis aan Zee there are problems in areas such as personnel policy, leadership, infrastructure, quality policy and health policy. An extensive improvement plan was drawn up with clear agreements and new instructions.

In De Vloedlijn there is a need to respond more appropriately to problem behavior of students. More prevention, more professionalization and a better infrastructure are needed. There is currently an interim director who is supported within the team and who wants to tackle the problems step by step in order to achieve a structural improvement, Weyts said.

All extraordinary boarding schools will be transferred from the Education policy area to the Welfare policy area by the end of this term of office. 21 special boarding schools are currently still educational institutions and as a result have been receiving fewer resources than welfare institutions that provide similar care for decades.