For three days, an unusual scene has been happening in front of the Mozart high school in Blanc-Mesnil. Every morning, in front of the gates, it is not the students, but their parents and their teachers who gather to encourage them not to go to class. With one voice, they are more than fifty to demand the resignation of the headmaster. They accuse him of not reacting after a serious altercation that took place in a classroom last Friday.
It was in the class of Amélie, a literature teacher who prefers not to give her last name, that the scuffle began. “It was after recess, the students were getting settled in the room. Four senior boys arrived and asked one of my students out. He refused, and that’s when they pounced on him, beating him to the ground. It was incredibly violent. I had never seen that in a classroom”, relate-t-elle.
The culprits are then apprehended and heard by the headmaster. According to several testimonies from students and teachers, the headteacher then decided to release the participants in the brawl, without calling the police, the firefighters, or the parents. A decision taken even though the concerned would have warned the headmaster that reprisals awaited them outside the school. Once past the gates, they are greeted by a group armed with telescopic batons, gas and shelled gloves, according to these same testimonies. Two students will end up in the hospital.
Disciplinary Board
It is this decision that the demonstrators blame the headteacher for. “I had to force the principal to watch the videos of the fights that the students had taken. He didn’t want to look at them.” insists Amélie, who denounces an attitude generally “careless” of his headmaster. “Even the police officers we called told us it was bullshit,” underlines Alexandre, professor of mathematics. In the process, several dozen teachers asserted their right of withdrawal. Some go on strike, adding their demands to those of the interprofessional movement last Tuesday.
For the rectorate of Créteil, the headteacher has taken on all his responsibilities. “He brought together the CHS (health and safety committee), the same day at the end of the afternoon. According to his report, no serious and imminent danger has been identified., which led to the rejection of the right of withdrawal that the teachers have asked to be exercised. This does not detract from the serious and unacceptable nature of the incident“, we explain to the office of the rector.
On the other hand, the management of the school took note of the walkout and the school sent an SMS to the parents, warning them of the premature end of the lessons following a “minor incident“. A somewhat light explanation for parents.
Complaint against the principal
“When we saw the violence of the videos, it was two different worlds. It’s impossible to qualify what happened as “minor“, says Nassira*, elected parent, posted in front of the gates with about fifteen other parents – all mothers. “Clearly, to me, that’s a lie“, adds another mother of a student, also a teacher in a college in the city. “We can’t trust him about what’s going on in this establishment. So the only solution is that it s‘go away“, she insists categorically.
On the same wavelength, the parents’ association and six teachers have already filed a complaint against the principal for “endangering the life of others“. Thursday, the demonstrators tried in vain to be received by the rectorate in Créteil. “The rule is to make a request to be received. However, there, they came to demonstrate in front of the rectorate“, underlines the institution. An investigation being triggered since the complaint, the rectorate also promised to receive the parents in the coming weeks.
Faced with the incomprehension aroused by the management of the aggression, the rectorate recalls that “the establishment has the obligation to verify the facts” and that the four students implicated “are subject to precautionary measures [c’est-à-dire qu’ils sont exclus de l’établissement] until a disciplinary council is held.
This Friday, the day before leaving on vacation, the teachers had stopped their strike, for fear that the head of the establishment invokes the Omont stop, which makes it possible to count the days not worked as days on strike – and therefore to make wage deductions. But the movement was still ongoing, with a human chain organized by the mothers at the opening of the school, as well as a blockade organized by the students. “The blockade is frighteningly effective. Of my three morning classes, I only had eight students” confided a young history teacher at midday.
Present in front of the school, the principal did not wish to answer our questions. He did, however, receive theunwavering support” of the SNPDEN-UNSA 93, union of heads of establishments, which considers that it “did what was necessary to separate the protagonists and bring the students to safety.”
*the first name has been changed, at the request of the student’s parent
