Tensions were rising between the Academy Inspectorate and the parents of students from the schools Saint Roch, Saint Barthélémy, Fuon Cauda, Ray Gorbella, and Chalet des Roses, whose classes are threatened with closure.
The meeting of the Departmental Council of National Education, held yesterday, allowed the resolution of issues for Chalet des Roses, Ray Gorbella, and La Plana schools in La Trinité and the opening of a new French-Nissart bilingual class. The other cases remain pending based on enrollments that are still ongoing.
Protests, demonstrations, challenges to decisions (not yet officially announced but cleverly leaked), with a potential slogan: don’t mess with my interests!
Changes to ensure better organization and, most likely, better cost management? Yes, of course, but only if they don’t disrupt everyone’s convenience!
Local politicians quickly showed their support for the protestors. Never contradict the citizen-elector, or better yet, the elector-citizen, sometimes becomes the primary creed of a majority and its opposition united under the banner of cheap populism.
For the record: The student numbers of public schools in the Alpes Maritimes were recorded in September 2014 at 90,685 students. The 2015 projections based on this estimate amount to 91,254, which means 569 additional students expected for this school year.
To cope with this demographic increase and the program reforms, the department received an allocation of 27 additional positions for the 2015 school start.
As far as heavy-handed tactics go, we’ve seen better! And they claim they want to reform! Yes, but why and above all, how?
No hope? Just read below…
The first, due to duty, is the mayor of Nice: “I wish to draw the attention of the Academic Director to the particular situation of the schools Saint Roch, Saint Barthélémy, Fuon Cauda, Ray Gorbella, and Chalet des Roses, whose classes are threatened with closure. I want to express my opposition to this decision, which would lead to an overly significant increase in the number of students per class within the affected schools.”
Xavier Garcia, Secretary of PS 06, following suit: “I struggle to understand the purely financial logic that leads the Academy to eliminate classes without considering the specifics of each school. The cases of Fuon Cauda, Bon Voyage, and St Barthélémy in Nice and La Plana in La Trinité are emblematic. I have written to the Minister of National Education (noteworthy: no less!) and am at the disposal of the mobilized parents to be a liaison with the government and the majority parliamentary group.”
The Academy Inspector refutes this accusation: “A social dialogue has been held with the school partners, with attentive listening and consideration of each situation,” said the Inspector in a statement. “This extensive consultation is bearing fruit.”
Continuing firmly: “Throughout the process of developing the school map, the Academy Inspector has largely considered the arguments put forth by staff representatives, parents, and elected officials, while also prioritizing the essential requirement for departmental equity and solidarity towards disadvantaged schools and territories. The always delicate exercise of finalizing the school map will be completed in June and then in September with consideration, as every year, of potential unforeseen demographic changes.”
