Application of new protocols, parents’ concerns, isolation of symptomatic children … The task of school principals is heavier with the Covid-19. Two of them, unionized with SnuiPP, agreed to testify.
In Lagrave, Saint-Sulpice, Lavaur or Albi… The start of the school year has sometimes been very eventful for schools, colleges and high schools. Classes temporarily closed for Covid cases are multiplying in the Tarn. Two primary school principals, unionized with SnuiPP, agreed to describe this turbulent period.
“The start of the school year was very, very tiring, with an enormous overload of work”, confides from the outset Perrine, director of a school of a hundred students in the Tarn and a teacher. “From 50 hours per week for a classic start, I went to 60”.
Constant adaptations
In a context where the epidemic is still lurking, the health protocol is constantly evolving. The latest text published by the Ministry of National Education on September 20 softens the rules to limit class closures: these are only enacted if three children are infected. Their classmates are no longer considered contact cases.
“Each time we receive new directives, we must apply them, pass them on to parents, answer their questions…”, lists Perrine. Not to mention the management of suspected cases. Since the start of the school year, ten children have presented symptoms in his school. Fortunately, none have tested positive.
The establishment of 200 students run by Sophie Escobar in Graulhet has also been spared for the moment. To avoid mixing, the director has created two groups (CP-CE1 and CE2-CM) which must never cross each other: the entrances and exits, recreations and services in the canteen are therefore duplicated, which makes as many additional tasks. , with constant staff.
“Parents are afraid”
The application of the protocol sometimes clashes with reality. “We are told to isolate the child who has symptoms but we only have one teacher per class and no relay adult. So does that mean we leave him alone? put it in the hallway? “Asks Perrine.
If the last protocol is “lighter” than the previous ones, “there is more fear”, notes the director. “Since Thursday, the department has moved into the red zone (” alert zone “, Editor’s note) and yet nothing has happened at school level”, is also surprised Sophie Escobar. The context is also distressing for parents: in Sophie Escobar’s school, five children are still missing: “families are afraid that the school is the vector of the virus. I cannot assure them that it is not circulating ”.
And the management of symptomatic children varies among families. “Some play the game while waiting for the result of a test or for the child to have no more symptoms to send him back to school. Others less, because they are embarrassed to manage custody at home, ”says the Graulhétoise.
In this context, the directors do their best to deal with the crisis along with the daily worries. “We keep the school at arm’s length, thanks to the dedication of our colleagues,” concludes Perrine.
Unions denounce a lack of personnel
SUD Education asks for more “staff, teachers, school life, AESH, school nurses, agents. “
– DDM illustration – MARIE PIERRE VOLLE
In a statement from SUD Education, the union evokes a lack of “staff, teachers, school life, AESH, school nurses, agents. “” It is all the more serious as the tasks are increasing in the face of absences for suspicion of Covid, in the face of the measures to be put in place, in the face of the need to make up for the delay taken during confinement and its consequences. “
SUD Education is also surprised by the simplification of the protocol in the event of a student tested positive. “This political decision seems incomprehensible in view of the other measures taken, except considering that the School is a daycare center for parents whom the employers refuse to place on special leave of absence! “Same observation for the SnuiPP union:” Teachers have the impression that economic issues prevail over health issues. However, some of them are vulnerable, with specific ailments. And since the start of the school year, they have no special authorization, ”explains Thomas Verdier, co-president of the union.
The FCPE satisfied with the new protocol
Conversely, “the relaxation of the protocol is not a bad thing”, according to the president of the Federation of Parents of Students’ Councils (FCPE) of Tarn, Mickaël Harivel. “If we had continued, all the schools would have been closed by December. “A detrimental situation for families:” We would have started again on partial unemployment and economic activity would have fallen to zero, “he believes. The president of the FCPE du Tarn, however, has a remark concerning the wearing of a mask: “We can regret that this kind of material is not available to the most vulnerable populations and children. “
23 new cases but no class closure
All classes closed due to a Covid case will be reopened as of this Friday.
– DDM illustration – MARIE PIERRE VOLLE
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The latest bulletin from the DSDEN (Departmental Directorate of National Education Services) published this Thursday reports 23 new cases of Covid-19 in the Tarn. These situations concern three teachers, one at the Saint-Exupéry school in Albi, one at the A. Camus middle school in Gaillac and one at the vocational school MA. Riess de Mazamet.
Twenty pupils are also affected, including 11 in the first stage: L. Aubrac school in Labastide-Rouairoux, Roulandou nursery school in Castres, Le Petit Prince school in Lisle-sur-Tarn, Jeanne d’Arc private school in Graulhet, Les Farguettes school de Saint Gemme (2), Bisséous school in Castres, Laclavelle Vendôme school in Gaillac, Sainte-Croix school in Lavaur, Nougaro school in Albi, Heriot school in Albi.
In the second level, the following establishments are concerned: Gambetta college in Rabastens, Lapérouse high school, Bellevue high school, Jacques Durand Puylaurens college, Toulouse-Lautrec vocational high school in Albi, La Borde Basse vocational high school in Castres, Puysségur private high school in Rabastens , Las Cases de Lavaur high school, E. Beaumarchais college in Valence-d’Albigeois.
No closed establishment
Two other cases involving adults from partner structures impacted the Aillot de Castres school and the Noailhac school. However, with the evolution of the health protocol, these new cases do not lead to class closures. This Thursday, two classes temporarily closed in Lisle-sur-Tarn and Graulhet reopened their doors. Six classes of the Saint-Exupéry school in Albi also reopen on Friday. As a reminder, no establishment has been completely closed.
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