"Inheritance Requires a New Review, Not Just Simple Confirmation"
A court has ruled that the education authorities' decision to reduce enrollment when changing the founder's name on a kindergarten inherited from deceased parents, in order to meet the current stricter facility requirements, is lawful.
On March 1, the Seoul Administrative Court's 14th Administrative Division (Presiding Judge Lee Sangdeok) announced it had ruled against the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by the children of kindergarten founder A against the Head of the Gangdong Songpa District Office of Education in Seoul. The plaintiffs sought to revoke the part of the decision regarding the reduction of the kindergarten's enrollment when approving the change of founder.
This kindergarten, located in Songpa-gu, Seoul, was originally licensed in the 1990s under the then-applicable education law to operate three classes with a maximum enrollment of 100 children. After founder A passed away, the children applied to the district education office for approval to change the founder in order to inherit the management rights of the kindergarten.
The district education office approved the change of founder but ordered that, starting from the 2026 academic year, the maximum enrollment be reduced from 100 to 74, citing that the kindergarten does not meet the current legal requirements for the facility area needed to accommodate 100 children.
The children of A filed a lawsuit, arguing that there is no legal basis for reducing enrollment as part of the name change procedure due to inheritance, and that they have the right to operate the kindergarten by inheriting its existing status.
At the time the kindergarten was established in the 1990s, the facility standards were relatively simple, requiring only a certain number of classrooms depending on the number of children per class and whether or not a playroom was provided. However, with the introduction of new regulations in 1997, the standards were tightened, requiring a classroom area of at least '80 plus three times the number of students' square meters for enrollments of 41 or more. In 2017, an additional detailed regulation stipulated that the total area of actual classroom space must exceed '2.2 times the number of enrolled children' square meters.
The court found that, based on these standards, the district education office's order to reduce enrollment was appropriate.
The court further explained that the approval to change the founder of a kindergarten is not merely a procedure to confirm the transfer of civil rights, but rather a review to ensure that the successor meets all the personnel and facility requirements necessary to operate a kindergarten under current law.
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