The topic of schools was not on the agenda of the city council on Thursday 15 September in Montluçon (Allier). However, it stole the show, for nearly forty minutes during important deliberations, such as the thorny problem of some polluted plots of Îlot Sainte-Geneviève.
It must be said that the city’s 2022-2026 school plan is far from unanimous among elected officials. So much so that the mayor Frédéric Laporte gave the floor to his deputy Manuela De Castro Alves to try to educate on the choices of the majority. In particular, that of the closure of the Anatole-France and Pauline-Kergomard schools at the beginning of the next school year.
What does the 2022-2026 school plan drawn up by the municipality of Montluçon (Allier) consist of?
“A work around the educational centers”
The elected official recalled that the first exchanges with teachers and parents of the students dated back to October 2020. And that they arose from the need to close the school for eighteen months for work to secure the slab on the Lamaron. “It’s two full school years,” the school affairs assistant said.
This is what convinced the majority of a more global reflection, also dictated by the decline in the numbers of the establishment.
“In 2014 we had 123 students in Anatole-France, then only 101 in 2017. In 2018, after the merger with Lamartine, we increased to 136, but this fall we will return to 87. We have a capacity of ten classes and currently there are only five. And the problem is not specific to Montluçon. “
Federico Laporte (Mayor of Montluçon)
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Hence the desire of the majority to rethink things and to “work around the educational centers, also in Bien-Assis and Fontbouillant […], which allow bridges between the levels: kindergarten, primary and middle school. We have a capacity of 2,700 schoolchildren in the city and we currently have 2,370 ”, said Manuela De Castro Alves.
An avenue left to private individuals in the city center, according to Pierre Mothet
“The demonstration can be understood, even the demographic evolution, replied the elected representative of the opposition Pierre Mothet, before strongly criticizing the options chosen by the municipal team.
“I have been elected since 2014 and, counting Anatole-France and Pauline-Kergomard, we will have voted in this assembly for the closure of eight schools! By closing these schools, we leave a monopoly on an entire sector to Saint-Joseph and to private education, which is much more attractive than it used to be. Don’t tell me it’s all a coincidence … “
Pierre Mothet (Municipal Councilor for the opposition (DVG))
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“If there was work to be done on the Lamaron, then why did you shut down Lamartine and Triolet? He asked again.
Back to school with a bitter taste in the mouth at the Anatole-France school in Montluçon (Allier) which will close next year
“Because at that moment we didn’t know that the Lamaron slab could collapse. And we didn’t place any orders. We made the services work without preconceptions. We also sent agents to study the travel time of the families ”, assures Frédéric Laporte.
“The only thing that guided us was the interest of children and families,” added Manuela De Castro Alves.
Sylvie Sartirano’s pilot school proposal
Sylvie Sartirano also deplored this “imbalance of public schools for a large part of the population, with the problems that this will pose to families. […]. One might think that Anatole-France will become (after the works, NDRL), a pilot school for tomorrow, in connection with the environment and the revegetation approaches we defend. “
“Even with these groupings we will be in eight classes per school, very far from the top ten classes. So excellent conditions for the students of our schools “, defended the mayor, insisting on the amount of work done by the Municipality for schools:” 1.5 million euros last year and 1.1 million this year. He was unheard of. I am not sure, however, that this ends the debate.
The city of Montluçon (Allier) has allocated a budget of over one million euros for work in schools
Michele Nicola
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