Exceptionally severe frosts, especially in north-eastern Poland, led to the closure of some schools. This is permitted by the Regulation of the Ministry of Education and Sports of 2002 on safety and hygiene in public and non-public institutions.
“The director of the institution, with the consent of the school's governing body (minister, local government unit or other legal or natural person), may suspend classes for a specified period of time if the outside temperature measured at 21, on the two consecutive days preceding the suspension of classes, is -15 degrees Celsius or lower” – says paragraph 18(1) of the regulation.
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Schools suspend classes due to frost. There are specific guidelines
Suspension of classes at school due to low temperature is an ad hoc remedial measure, so the facility may obtain consent orally, by telephone or electronically. The director only needs to record it in any way in writing (e.g. in the form of a note).
Schools may also suspend classes due to heavy snowfall, which prevents children from reaching the facility safely. Although the regulation does not mention it directly, there is a provision about “events that may threaten the health of students“.
The possible suspension of classes at school is also mentioned in Art. 125a of the Education Law, which indicates that classes in kindergartens and schools is suspended for a specified period of time in the event of occurrence in a given area:
- threats to students' safety in connection with the organization and conduct of national or international events,
- external temperature or in rooms where classes are conducted with students, posing a threat to students' health,
- threats related to the epidemiological situation,
- an extraordinary event threatening the safety or health of students other than those specified in points 1-3 (such as, among others, communication difficulties preventing safe access to school due to snowfall)
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Heavy frosts in Poland. What temperature must the school have?
The regulations also precisely regulate the issue of temperature at school. “In the rooms where classes take place, the school is obliged to ensure the temperature at a level not lower than 18 degrees Celsius.. If it is not possible to ensure the temperature at the above level, the school principal is obliged to suspend classes for a specified period of time and notify the managing authority about it,” we read in the regulation.
The matter was also covered in detail in the regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 2002 on the technical conditions to be met by buildings. “On gymwhere physical education classes (exercise classes) are conducted, the air temperature should be at least 16 degrees Celsiuswhereas in changing rooms and bathrooms the temperature should be at least 24 degrees Celsius“, says the legal act.
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Heavy snowfall. Some schools are suspending classes
According to data from the Ministry of National Education, cited by Infor, decision to suspend classes took last week nearly 600 branches in the province Kuyavian-Pomeranian, Lubuskie, Greater Poland and West Pomeranian.
Students from the Płońsk district (Masovian Voivodeship) already know that they will not return to school on Monday. “In accordance with the recommendations of the voivode and the announcement of the Education Board in Warsaw – at the request of school principals and with the consent of the governing body – due to forecast severe frosts, educational institutions for which the Płoń District is the governing body, suspend teaching classes on February 2 and 3, 2026 (Monday and Tuesday)” – we read in the announcement of the staroste of Płońsk, Artur Adamski. The canceled classes apply to the following institutions:
- I Secondary School Henryk Sienkiewicz in Płońsk – “Płocka”,
- School Complex in Raciąż
- School Complex No. 2 named after Leon Rutkowski in Płońsk,
- School Complex No. 1 Stanisław Staszic in Płońsk,
- School Complex in Czerwińsk on the Vistula River,
- Vocational Training Center in Płońsk,
- School and Educational Center in Płońsk and
- Educational Center in Joniec.
A similar decision was made by the mayor of the Płońsk commune. Therefore, lessons are suspended in:
- Primary school in Siedlin,
- Primary school in Lisewo.
