Description: Topicality of the research. 1999 faced the beginning of the optimisation of Lithuanian comprehensive school network, according to which the predominant secondary schools (12 classes) were reformed into basic schools (I - X classes) and gymnasiums (IX - XII classes). Scientific problem. What criteria should be followed when choosing the future status of a school? What empirical indicators and how to measure the implementation of these criteria?Aim of the research: To carry out a diagnostics of the future status of a particular Šiauliai school in the context of Lithuanian school network optimisation.Objectives: 1. To carry out the analysis of theoretical basics of school network optimisation; 2. To carry out a study of the cases of school network optimisation; 3. To form and ground essential criteria appropriate for the diagnostics of the future school status: qualification of teachers, number of pupils, environment of education.Object of the research: empirical indicators, which measure the qualification of teachers, the number of pupils, and the environment of education.Hypothesis. Šiauliai Gytariai secondary school should choose gymnasium status because the qualification of teachers corresponds to the indicators of teacher qualification of Lithuanian gymnasiums, the planned number of pupils partially corresponds to gymnasium status, and the environment of school education corresponds to the requirements of gymnasium education environment. Methodology: Methods of the research: The main method - analysis of departmental data banks. Scientific literature and document analysis were also applied. Quantitative data were processed by statistical computer programmes, and qualitative interpretation was carried out for the received derivative data.The research was carried out in 2004-2005.Theoretical basics of school network optimisation. The research is grounded on the theories of R. Jucevicius, M.Wallace, K.Pocklington, S.Ranson, M.Fullan, M.McLaughlin, P.Holly, R.Elmore and other pedagogy scientists, who wrote about the efficiency of school activities, management of changes, and formation of activity strategies.Analysis of European practice. Analysing the optimisation of Lithuanian school network, the practice of German, English, Welsh education network optimisation was followed. Great attention was paid to the analysis of juridical optimisation basics of these countries and Lithuania. Conclusions: Main conclusions.In Lithuanian schools, the majority of teachers are certified, and the number of certified teachers keeps growing. Teachers with qualification category of chief teacher prevail - 56 %. There are considerably more teachers of high qualification (supervisors, experts) in gymnasiums, and in basic schools - considerably less than in secondary schools. Certification numbers of Šiauliai teachers exceed Lithuanian average. In Lithuanian schools, the general number of pupils keeps reducing. Together with the reorganisation of secondary schools into basic schools and gymnasiums the number of pupils of the latter schools keeps growing. Since IX and X classes are in basic schools and gymnasiums too, the percent of the pupils of these classes is low in basic schools, and in gymnasiums, there are considerably fewer pupils of these classes than of XI and XII classes. Workload of Šiauliai Gytariai secondary school teachers keeps reducing till the average of pedagogical full time (18 contact hours per week). Having acquired a status of basic school, in 2010-2011, it is forecasted that specialists of physics and chemistry will work part time. The number of full time teachers of the Lithuanian and foreign language, mathematics, biology, geography, and art will reduce. The demand of primary education specialists will conditionally increase. Having become a gymnasium, it is forecasted that there will be a bigger demand of specialists of the Lithuanian and foreign language, information technologies, chemistry, physics, economics, and history.