Several mayors of Reunion have expressed in recent days their refusal or reluctance to open schools on May 18. After the mayors of Saint-Joseph, Bras-Panon, Sainte-Marie, the mayors of St-Denis, St-Philippe and St-André spoke on Monday.
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Posted on May 3, 2020 at 6:38 p.m., updated on May 4, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.
This is the puzzle of deconfinement: back to school. It is scheduled for May 18 in Reunion, but it may not take place in some municipalities on the island. For several days, mayors have been demonstrating to express their refusal or reluctance to open schools.
No reopening of schools in St-Philippe
This Monday, May 4, the mayor of Saint-Philippe, Olivier Rivière, announces that he will not reopen the schools in his commune on May 18. According to him, “the health protocol is too restrictive”.
“No test, no return to St-André”
In a press release published Monday evening, the mayor of Saint-André, Jean-Paul Virapoullé, warns: “no test, no return to Saint-André”. According to the mayor, “the sanitary conditions are not met”. According to a survey carried out in his commune “89% of parents do not wish to send their children to school on May 18,” explains Jean-Paul Virapoullé.
No school without screening at the Tampon
Already in a press release yesterday, the mayor of Le Tampon, André Thien Ah Koon, indicated that he refused to reopen establishments in his city in two weeks, under current sanitary conditions. “To protect children and reassure parents”, the mayor of Tampon asked the Regional Health Agency, “screening, before school starts, of municipal staff and teachers”, “that is to say everyone who will be in contact with the students. ” André Thien Ah Koon says he has been refused by the ARS.
Watch the interview with André Thien Ah Koon on Réunion La 1ère:
Interview with André Thien-Ah-Koon in the Journal at 7 p.m.
Under these conditions, the mayor opposes the opening of schools. “It will be up to the State, by requisition, to place the operation of the schools under its full and entire responsibility, writes André Thien Ah Koon. Otherwise, the schools of the municipality of Tampon will not be open on May 18” .
No school in Saint-Joseph on May 18
On April 21, Patrick Lebreton was one of the first mayors to announce that he refused to reopen schools in his town on May 18. The mayor of Saint-Joseph had explained that he considered the “insufficient sanitary conditions”. “Do we have the means to guarantee the safety of schoolchildren and families? The answer is no,” he wrote in a column.
Reluctance to St-Denis, Ste-Marie and Bras-Panon
This Monday, May 4, the mayor of Saint-Denis, Gilbert Annette, explains on Réunion La 1ère:
I am carrying out something (the decision of the government, note) with difficulties and reluctance. Opening schools on May 18 is possible, but complicated and it is expensive. Daily disinfection of premises and equipment several times a day has a cost. The government has not said it will offset these expenses.
“This government decision is putting us in trouble, believes Gilbert Annette. We are asking for protection because there is the problem of criminal responsibility for mayors who respond to a government injunction.”
Watch the report of Réunion La 1ère:
Another mayor was skeptical of a reopening of schools before the next school year on Sunday. The mayor of Sainte-Marie, Richard Nirlo, explains on Réunion La 1ère:
If I find that all the conditions are not met, I will make the decision not to open the schools. I paradoxically find that we are asked to open schools, when the State considers that the presence of children is not compulsory. Schools must not be opened at any cost.
In the middle of last week, the mayor of Bras-Panon, Daniel Gonthier, in turn declared his reluctance to organize the start of the school year on May 18 in his commune.
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