Sarcelles: Professors exercise their right of withdrawal after new incidents in high school

Classroom doors smashed in buildings A and B, recorded fire starts, an injured teacher … Lycée La Tourelle in Sarcelles was shaken this Monday by a new episode of violence. The cause: the conviction Friday of a high school student to a sentence of eight months in prison, four of which were suspended and tested for two years. He had struck several times a professor who asked him to take off his cap Monday of last week. “This decision clearly does not pass,” says a professor. There have been messages calling for a blockade that have been circulating among the students all weekend. “

“It was quite impressive”

According to several accounts, high school students tried to organize a blockade of the establishment in the middle of the morning after the morning break, a scenario already experienced last Friday. “The young people gathered in front of the establishment and a certain number returned noisily to ask the pupils to join them in order to interrupt the lessons. It was pretty impressive, ”said another teacher.

“There are young people who used a tear gas canister,” added Hasna, representative of parents of CIPF students. She believes that these incidents were the result of a minority of students. Trouble-makers are said to come from outside the institution.

“The security conditions are not met”

Classes had to stop at noon. “We met and asked to exercise our right of withdrawal because the security conditions are not met either for the teachers or for the students,” says a prof. There is a feeling of insecurity that has developed. The teachers are scheduled to meet again on Tuesday and vote to reapply for the right to withdraw.

“We are asking for an intervention from the rectorate to obtain more resources”, underlines Hassen Ben Loual, elected professor on the board of directors. He points to the lack of staff and premises that have become too small for 1,400 students. In a letter to be sent to the Ministry of Education, parents’ associations deplore the “disengagement of institutions and policies” vis-à-vis the school.

Contacted on Monday, the office of the academic director of Val-d’Oise ensures that “there has been no intrusion into the establishment, nor violence”. “There was only a search of the bags at the entrance,” says a spokesperson. The latter indicates that she has no information about the start of the fire or an injured teacher.