The Superintendency of Education issued a circular mandating private schools to follow the same Safe Classroom procedure as subsidized ones in cases of serious misconduct, to ensure due process and student rights. The measure clarifies a legal gap and equalizes rules for all officially recognized schools. Superintendent Loreto Orellana stressed that it is about protecting the rights of all children.
The Superintendency of Education recently issued a circular mandating private schools to immediately apply the Safe Classroom procedure in timelines, rules, and treatments, just like subsidized establishments. This addresses the lack of reasonable grounds to differentiate by funding source in the rights of affected students, per the ruling.
Previously, a dictamen allowed private schools their own procedures, creating inequalities. Loreto Orellana, superintendent appointed in August via public contest, clarified that the circular merely specifies the law, applicable to all officially recognized schools. “It gives autonomy to establishments and democratizes the process,” Orellana assured, emphasizing respect for due process, equality, and proportionality in disciplinary measures.
There was a legal vacuum mainly referring to subsidized schools, though the norm covered all. Now, private schools must report matricula cancellations for serious misconduct, which they did not before. Orellana noted complaints of due process failures in both types of schools.
The measure allows establishments to better decide on formative sanctions. For adaptation, there is a special period from March for about 500 paid private schools, though application is immediate with time to adjust internal regulations.
Orellana dismissed it as a political “tie-up”: “Everything done from the superintendency concerns the country's education and safeguarding the rights of all students, regardless of whether they receive subsidies or not.” She expects it to improve school coexistence, aligned with the national policy.
Additionally, a normative reminds that internal regulations must recognize gender identity, incorporating anti-discrimination law and a 2021 circular.
