Problems of the American Elite School in Warsaw. The school continues to operate despite being removed from the register

Parents of students of the American Elite School in Warsaw, although they pay astronomical fees for their children's education, receive letters from the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) about the need to return unduly received 800+ benefits, reports “Gazeta Wyborcza”. It turns out that the private institution has been operating for months and collecting tuition fees despite being removed from the school register, and its founder has an Interpol red notice for multi-million fraud in Belarus.

Board of Education Inspections at American Elite School

American Elite School problemsofficially known as Private School No. 99 in Warsaw, began at the beginning of 2024, when inspections by the Masovian Education Board revealed a number of gross irregularities in the facility. According to information from Wyborcza: the school did not meet 5 key conditions necessary to function in the Polish legal system:

• implementation of teaching programs taking into account the Polish core curriculum for general education,
• implementation of compulsory educational activities within the period and duration specified in the framework teaching plan of a given type of public school,
• applying the rules for classifying and promoting students,
• keeping documentation of the course of teaching,
• employing teachers with appropriate pedagogical qualifications.

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The inspectors drew attention to the fact that almost no one in the facility – including the teaching staff – spoke Polish. Instead of the Polish core curriculum, the Oxford curriculum was implemented, and as a result of the inspection, 7 out of 12 teachers were sent to 3 semesters of pedagogical preparation studies. After the first visit of the school board, the school did not take the recommended actions, just like after the second one, therefore an application was submitted to remove the school from the register. American Elite School is no longer part of the Polish education system as of August 31, 2025 according to the school board.

Parents asked to return 800 plus benefits

The Warsaw school is mainly attended by foreigners from Ukraine and India – children of employees of Polish branches of corporations, and it is currently unknown whether the current school year will be counted for them. Parents were not informed about the removal of American Elite School from the registerthey learned about it only from letters sent by ZUS. The office informed guardians that since the children do not attend a school within the Polish education system, the 800 plus benefits received must be returned for each month of study from the moment the school was removed from the register. The ZUS spokesman explained to Wyborcza that the basis for payment of funds is the student's presence in the Educational Information System, in which American Elite School is no longer listed.

Despite the formal closure, the school still operates and collects fees from parents very high tuition fees, which range from PLN 42,240 to PLN 56,160 per year. Moreover, in October 2025, the management sent an annex to the contracts indicating new bank account numbers. Verification on the so-called the white list of VAT payers showed that the indicated accounts are not in the register of the Ministry of Finance, which suggests that they are private accounts. Some parents, unaware of the scale of the problem, have already paid the tuition fees for half of the next school year, and their requests for a refund remain unanswered.

American Elite School calms down and tells you about the mistake

In a letter to parents The school's management maintains that there was a mistake at the school board and that the situation will be clarified within a few weeks, moreover, the school is of the opinion that it has never received information regarding the status of the facility or the implementation of deficiencies, which is contrary to Wyborcza's findings about the school's declarations regarding the implementation of post-audit recommendations. Parents of students are currently receiving certificates confirming their child's attendance at the American Elite School, even though the facility cannot formally operate, and the management invites them to open days scheduled for March 21, promising to maintain the current tuition rates for new applicants.

An additional thread in the case is the past of the founder of the American Elite School, Ilya Wołoch, currently using the surname Słakatowicz. The man is being prosecuted with an Interpol red notice at the request of a court in Belarus regarding a development fraud in the Gruszewski Posad estate in Minsk, where over 400 people allegedly lost the equivalent of approximately PLN 24 million. Although a Belarusian court sentenced him to ten years in prison, Vlach avoided punishment by fleeing to Poland and obtaining local citizenship thanks to family ties.

Parents are afraid for their children's future

Parents of American Elite School students are afraid for the future of their children, because not only did they not know about the past of its founder, but also about the institution's deletion from the register. The Warsaw City Hall reassures us that there will be places for all children from the closed school in the city's facilitiesand the institution itself no longer receives educational subsidies. Officials and the Masovian school board emphasize that the American Elite School is formally closed due to the lack of meeting the requirements of a public school, and re-entry into the register would be possible after meeting all the criteria, including: regarding housing conditions and educational requirements.

The school filed a complaint against the decision to the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw, but – according to its website – it is still actively recruiting for the new school year, also planning to open high school classes.

Prepared by AD

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