By Philippe Roudeillat
Published on
updated on 10 Feb 22 at 9:34
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It is a general discontent that seems to have settled within the Lycée Jeanne d’Albret of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
Teachers, parents, agents and students are currently very mobilized on two very important projects for the future of this institution with which they do not agree at all.
A petition and an open letter
An open letter and a petition have been launched. The latter registered 1,226 signatures as of February 7.
The first point of contention concerns the renovation that should soon benefit the site as part of the emergency plan for high schools in Paris adopted in 2017 to respond to the dilapidation of almost a third of schools and demographic issues.
If the start of the renovation of this high school with almost 1,600 students is well received, it is completely different regarding its content in which the petitioners would not find themselves there at all.
A renovation deemed largely insufficient
“The renovation would be only partial and would not solve most of the common and specific needs, for some strongly expressed during the days of interviews in January 2020: thermal insulation and replacement of classroom windows, redevelopment of premises, renovation of all floors of all buildings, explain the elected representatives to the high school board of directors in the petition. The project is undersized and the renovation budget is very insufficient to meet the real needs. »
The teaching staff denounces the fact that, according to their information, only 4 of the 7 buildings on the site would be renovated, in whole or in part, during this operation, the amount of which would be 27 million euros when the initial budget showed 47. Part of the initial sum would have already been spent, in particular on preliminary studies.
“When you see the state of the classrooms and the rooms, it’s ridiculous to redo only part of the buildings throughout the school. It’s just retouching with a construction site that is still planned to last almost 4 and a half years. This partial renovation would not concern, for example, floors or windows that are condemned because if they were opened, they would fall. While with Covid we are asked to open the windows, we can not do it in some rooms or corridors. This is not very serious in the current context. »
The park recovered by the City and turned into a public garden
The second case of discontent concerns the future of the existing park on the grounds of the high school. Accessible to people outside the establishment only on the occasion of heritage days, it could be accessible much more often.
Indeed, during a board of directors just dedicated to the presentation of the renovation project, the participants would have learned that it provided for the Region to be separated by several hectares in favor of the City of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
“In the project, the green areas including the lodge, the management building – which would be destroyed -, as well as the parking lot of the high school and the surrounding area would be ceded to the city of Saint-Germain-en-Laye who wants to transform the whole into a public garden, it is added in the text of the petition. The solutions envisaged by the town hall of access to the garden on weekdays for the benefit of high school students and its return to the public for the weekend seem impractical in practice? or too easily reversible? to be taken seriously. We are concerned that the living environment of staff and students, which ensures a quality of study of the school curriculum and serenity, is thus threatened. »
“To remove the park is to remove the soul of the high school”
Not all of them understand this decision and reject it as a whole. For them, to remove this park, which occupies almost a third of the school’s surface, is to remove the “soul” of this high school.
“We also saw well with Covid the importance of having a green space. This park also makes the character, character and soul of this establishment. »
The high school students I met say they are attached to this space. “It’s a bit of a green lung for us,” Eric says. Everyone recognizes it: “It’s still great for us to have this in the premises of the establishment. With Covid, fortunately we had it. “For them, the main thing would be to be able to “continue to enjoy it” regardless of “the project”.
The Lycée’s website promotes it by highlighting its assets: its “exceptional trees (sophoras, laricio pines, Himalayan pines, Lebanon cedars …), its Angoulême Tower (“folie” in the sense of the eighteenth century, built in the style of the ruins of an ancient temple, unique example in France) and its science collections”.
The Angoulême Tower is listed in the inventory of historical monuments.
In the petition, the mobilized people also mention a security component that, in their eyes, would be induced by this project of transformation of the park into a public garden.
Security issues ahead?
“Beyond the current accreditation, it is of course the safety of students that concerns us. A public garden can quickly also become a place of traffic of all kinds and, to put it clearly, we do not want it at the gates of our establishment. We therefore want the park to continue to be an integral part of the high school, under the control of the Regional Council. »
In addition to this renovation project which they consider insufficient and which they reject the component relating to the park, the actors of the petition also denounce the way in which it would be carried out.
While they would represent almost 3/4 of the board of directors, they would feel excluded from discussions and decisions and would be systematically put in front of the fait accompli.
“We would like to finally be involved in this whole work process”
“The Region and the City exchange directly with the President of the Board of Directors. Our opinion doesn’t seem to matter. At no time were we told about the type of renovation or privatization of the park. Finally, we would like to be involved in this entire work process, to have the right to participate since we represent almost 3/4 of the turnover. We want to be involved in all aspects of this project. »
Before launching their open letter and then the petition, they would have tried to make themselves heard by calling, from November 18, the office of the president of the Ile-de-France Region, Valérie Pécresse, but without getting a response despite their reminders.
It was only on January 24 that they were reportedly informed by Catherine Mary, the principal of Jeanne d’Albret high school and president of the board of directors that the Region was considering setting up a meeting on the topics of discord.
The Region announces a meeting but refuses to say more
We have contacted the Region to find out its position in the face of this general mobilization as well as the details of the planned renovation and the reasons that push it to separate from the park. Despite our insistence to exchange with an interlocutor on these various points, the latter stuck to a most terse answer explaining that she could not say more at the moment and that a meeting should be organized soon on the subject with interested people.
“The Île-de-France Region is listening”
“The Île-de-France Region is listening to educational communities. Their comments and, sometimes, their concerns have been taken into account, and the services of the Region are studying the file and are currently working on the best possible organization to carry out the renovation of the establishment and meet the expectations of all, in consultation with the management of the high school and the municipality of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. A meeting with all the parties concerned will be held soon in order to present the guidelines envisaged at this stage to the representatives of the educational communities. »
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Practice
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