It is a movement that has been gaining momentum for a week. More and more mayors are announcing that they will not authorize the reopening of their schools to teachers on May 11 and to children on May 12. In Seine-Saint-Denis, the centrist mayors of Drancy, Bobigny, Saint- Ouen, Noisy-le-Sec, Livry-Gargan, Le Bourget, Le Raincy and de Coubron, sent a letter to the prefect and to National Education to inform them that the nurseries and kindergartens would remain “Closed until September” in their communities. At least two other mayors of the department, communists those, also announced that they would refuse to open schools on May 11, in Stains and Montreuil. The municipality of Haumont in the North, and that of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais have taken similar measures, as in Courcelles-lès-Gisors in the Oise or in Saulce-sur-Rhône in the Drôme.
The city councilors put forward similar arguments: too little time to organize the start of the school year, too much risk for children, teachers and municipal staff. “The health risk is too great and I am not in a position to guarantee their safety and health. I don’t want to put their lives in danger ”, argued Azzédine Taïbi, the mayor of Stains, relying on an opinion from the scientific council which recommended not to open schools before September.
Sanitary protocol
On the side of the mayors who refuse only the reopening of nurseries and kindergartens, it is argued that the measure would redirect municipal staff to elementary schools. “And thus facilitate the implementation of health instructions for older students», Specified Aude Lagarde, mayor of Drancy, at Parisian. The agglomeration community of Lens-Liévin questions her in a press release : “How to enforce the correct spacing of children in classrooms, physical distancing as well as barrier and hygiene measures? How can we ensure that these recommendations are fully applied to young children? The vagueness is still total, in particular on the sanitary protocol to be applied by the communities. “
Since the Lensois municipal decree was taken on April 29, the National Education has published its national health protocol. But this 68-page text, which details the hygiene and social distancing measures to be respected in the classes, should paradoxically give the mayors more arguments. “If we take this document into account, it seems to me that the term refusal to open schools is inappropriate, notes Antony Taillefait, professor of public law at the University of Angers. The mayors have to check that the conditions set by the health protocol are met. If this is not the case, they find it impossible to open the school. And they will have to demonstrate school by school that the regulations cannot be implemented. ”
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An approach that should not be very complicated given the large number of measures detailed in the health protocol. “It is the nature of the law: the more standards we produce, the more risk there is of blocking things. However, the decrees taken before the publication of the protocol are for the moment more of a political than a legal decision ”, explains Antony Taillefait.
Until May 11, it remains to scrutinize the reaction of the State. The prefectures can require elected officials to withdraw their orders and requisition local and personal to ensure the resumption of classes. In his speech to the Assembly, the Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, had however promised flexibility on the issue, which makes this option unlikely in the departments very affected by the epidemic. In a meeting with local elected officials on April 29, the government said municipalities located in green departments would find it difficult to justify continuing to close schools. He could be more accommodating with the cities of the red departments.
Nelly Didelot
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