Residents oppose special school plan

[Anchor]

Opposition from nearby residents is intensifying regarding the establishment of a special school for the disabled in Seongdong-gu, Seoul.

This kind of conflict is recurring at every site where special schools are planned to be built.

Is there a solution? Reporter Lee Soo-min has investigated.

[Report]

Eighteen-year-old A, who has a severe disability, rides in a stroller on her way to school.

It takes over 40 minutes by car to get to the special school.

There was no special school in the area where she originally lived, so her family moved to be closer.

[A's Parent/Voice Altered: "(In a regular school) there are situations where it's hard to be in an integrated class, and for that, there needs to be a special school. There wasn't one in Seongdong-gu where we lived...."]

Plans to build a special school in Seongdong-gu are now facing backlash.

At an informational session, some residents showed up with protest signs and raised their voices in opposition.

[Resident at the Information Session/Voice Altered: "About 10,000 households are planned for redevelopment, but there is no high school site. There is a high possibility of complaints being raised...."]

Parents of disabled students also stood their ground.

[Kim Nam-yeon/Head of the Seoul Branch, Korean Parents’ Network for People with Disabilities: "There are almost no cases where a special school is pushed out of one site and successfully built at a second."]

One special school in Jungnang-gu had to change locations eight times before construction finally began—13 years later.

Experts argue that residents' concerns about falling property values are exaggerated.

[Choi Hwang-soo / Adjunct Professor, Konkuk University Graduate School of Real Estate: "It’s hard to say that the presence of such facilities—which residents may not want—would significantly affect local property prices."]

As these conflicts repeat at nearly every proposed site, only about 30% of students eligible for special education in Seoul are enrolled in special schools.

This is KBS News, Lee Soo-min.