The relocation of Nallebjörnen
The Compulsory School Committee has decided to close Nallebjörnen Preschool. After the New Year, children and staff will move to other premises.
For several years, staff at Nallebjörnen Preschool have reported various physical symptoms related to being at the workplace. Since this became known, Skellefteå Municipality has taken a number of measures to improve the work environment, but despite these efforts, health issues persist. Therefore, after the New Year, the children and staff at Nallebjörnen will move to preschool facilities at Morö Backe. The aim is to make the transition as smooth as possible for the children, guardians, and staff.
The relocation is necessary because the efforts to improve the work environment have not been effective. Measures have included improving the facilities, teaching outdoors rather than indoors, holding staff meetings in another nearby location, as well as preventive and health-promoting measures for the employees in collaboration with the Municipal Health Service. Despite these efforts, the physical symptoms remain.
The move will take place on January 15, 2025.
Three single-unit preschools in Morö Backe are being opened: Granen Preschool, Droppen Preschool, and Stackgatan 7. Each family at Nallebjörnen has been contacted with information about their new preschool placement.
Yes, all siblings will attend the same preschool after the move. The children will join friends in mixed-age groups and from different units at Nallebjörnen in their new preschool.
The children will move to three preschool units in Morö Backe, meanwhile Nallebjörnen's premises houses four units. Based on the new circumstances and the goal of keeping siblings together, three mixed-age groups for children 1-5 years, will be formed. At the new preschool, the children will be with friends from Nallebjörnen, but the composition of each group will differ from how it was previously structured.
All children will have at least one familiar preschool teacher from Nallebjörnen. The composition of the staff teams will differ before and after the move, based on the new circumstances.
Employees have reported symptoms such as itching, hoarseness, dry eyes, burning skin and rashes. Some have experienced asthma. The symptoms worsen when they spend time inside the premises.
There have been, and currently are, some children who have experienced burning skin, rashes, and asthma.
Despite many years of examining the work environment at Nallebjörnen, we do not know for certain what the symptoms are attributed to. We have conducted in-depth analyses and various forms of assessments. Among other things, an external consultant has been hired to carry out detailed investigations and conduct material tests, moisture tests, and air quality analyses to name a few, but no deviations have been found. In addition to examining the building itself, the Municipal Health Service has also been involved in investigating other factors that can affect the work environment, but there are no clear answers to be found.
We do not have an exact answer about how long this will be. It depends on how soon suitable premises become available in Anderstorp that we can utilize—either through building a new preschool, or by using other existing facilities that are well-suited for preschool activities.
Based on the goal of finding suitable vacant premises for running a preschool, the best solution is to open three preschools currently not in use in Morö Backe: Granen Preschool, Droppen Preschool, and Stackgatan 7.
The key priorities for the move have been to find suitable vacant premises as close to Anderstorp as possible, retain familiar teachers from Nallebjörnen, keep siblings together, and keep the child groups together as much as possible. These factors have primarily influenced the composition of the groups and the placement of the children.
For those living in Anderstorp who don't have a car, there is a city bus line between Anderstorp and Morö backe (bus line 1). Read more about the city buses at the website of Skellefteå Bus. External link.
No decision has been made yet regarding this. The building may be demolished so that Skellefteå Municipality can use the area for building new housing.
There are several reasons why modular units are not a suitable solution in this case. An important factor is that the placement of modular units must meet the needs of a preschool, including a functional outdoor environment. Such a location is not available in the Anderstorp area. Additionally, it would take a long time to set up the units and make them ready—the earliest they would be ready is spring. Since there are preschools in central Skellefteå that are currently unused but ready to be opened if needed, the Education and Labor Market Department sees reopening a dormant preschool as a much better solution.
A preschool with four units is planned for the area, and is expected to be completed around the turn of the year 2026/2027. In the longer term, there will probably also be a need for additional six preschool units.