They will have to manage day-to-day expenses with budgets that are sometimes much tighter than expected. The Ile-de-France section of the union of heads of establishments SNPDEN-UNSA has called on principals not to vote on the 2023 budgets, which are currently presented to the board of directors in the 474 public high schools. In its line of sight: the new method of calculating the overall operating grant for high schools (DGFL), which has been reviewed, they denounce, “without consultation” by the regional council of Île-de-France, the community responsible for site management.
This allocation, calculated in particular according to the number of pupils and the surface area of the establishments, is granted each year by the region to the secondary schools to enable them to pay expenses related to the maintenance of the buildings or to educational activities. It can thus reach up to 600,237 euros for the Adolphe-Chérioux high school in Vitry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne).
But this year, in some establishments, the DGFL which will be paid in 2023 may be tens of thousands of euros lower than they had planned. For example, -132,868 euros for Jacques-Feyder in Épinay-sur-Seine (Seine-Saint-Denis) or -156,999 euros for Louis-le-Grand in Paris, when the allocation remains the same for a third of the establishments. The regional council would thus save nearly 18 million euros, according to the document that Le Parisien obtained.
“In all high schools, we find what is called a working capital, it is basically our savings, the money we keep in case of unforeseen events, explains Sébastien Volpoët, coordinator of SNPDEN-UNSA in the Island. -of France. The region believes that some establishments have too much working capital. It therefore decided that those who have funds whose amounts are greater than more than three months of operating expenses would be capped. That is to say, it will deduct the excess amount from the DGFL. If you have, for example, working capital equivalent to five months of operating expenses, it will deduct two months of operating costs from the DGFL. The problem is that the region does not calculate the three months authorized on working capital in the same way as the establishments and the rectorate. We don’t understand how it’s calculated. »
The region highlights its support for energy costs
Sébastien Volpoët does not criticize the principle of capping but its “opacity”. “We can imagine that the situation is difficult and that high schools must make an effort. On the other hand, we cannot present to the board of directors figures that we do not understand. When it’s blurry, there’s a wolf. He also recalls that these funds may contain money that has not been paid by the region. “An establishment has other sources of income [que le conseil régional] “, he points.
In a letter sent to all principals in mid-November, Céline Malaisé and Collette Gergen, two regional councilors from the Left opposition group, communist, environmentalist and citizen, are also worried about this change in calculation. “This mechanism aims to empty working capital and reduce overall DGFL, they believe. Moreover, its rigidity prevents the specificity of each establishment from being taken into account. “It is unacceptable that the region punctures high schools in this way”, denounces Parisian Céline Malaisé.
“We don’t take anything from them,” retorts the regional council, which justifies this “exceptional measure” by the soaring energy costs that it also bears. “This year, energy price inflation will cost us 100 million euros, the equivalent of the construction of two high schools”, recalls the region, which recommends that establishments have the equivalent of two months of operation in their working capital.
“Despite everything, we only cap high schools that have the equivalent of more than three months. The capping is also limited, since the establishments will receive at least 50% of their theoretical allocation, even if they have the equivalent of one year of operation in their working capital. Some are clearly not using their money. However, public institutions are not intended to hoard! »
The community, which points out that the former majority (PS) of the regional council had also used this capping in the past, says that it took the results of the administrative accounts as of July 11, 2022 to make its calculations. “Some establishments tell us that they were able to incur expenses between this date and September. They should have been planned by previous deliberations, but we will naturally see with them if this poses any difficulties for them, ”adds the regional council.
