At the Eugène Delacroix high school in Drancy, where twenty parents of students died as a result of Covid-19, class closures are increasing as contamination increases.

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Maxime Le Pihif / SIPA

  • In Ile-de-France, Covid-19 contamination is increasing in schools.

    Thus at the Eugène Delacroix high school in Drancy in Seine-Saint-Denis, twenty parents of students have died from the coronavirus since the start of the health crisis.

  • The teachers of the establishment denounce an "alarming" situation and demand the closure of their school.

  • From Monday, 22 classes of this high school will be closed, and a massive screening should be organized within the week within the establishment.

It is both a priority and the pride of the government: to keep schools open as much as possible during this health crisis.

But is it still tenable and reasonable today?

With Covid-19 contaminations skyrocketing in schools, more and more voices are rising to demand their closure.

And the figures are alarming, especially in Seine-Saint-Denis, and in particular at the Eugène Delacroix high school in Drancy, where nearly sixty students and twenty teachers have been infected with the coronavirus since March 1.

Even more serious: twenty parents of students at this establishment have died from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.

Faced with the situation, the teachers of this high school are calling for the “urgent and temporary closure” of their establishment.

Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer announced on Friday that in the 19 reconfigured departments, a single case of Covid in a class would now result in its closure.

But will this be enough in the face of such a virulent third wave and a virus that has crossed the doors of schools?

Could the case of the Drancy high school have been avoided?

And how can we ensure that it does not happen again in other schools?

Contamination on the rise and an "alarming" situation

Faced with a rapid increase in contamination within their establishment, the teachers of the high school decided to exercise their right of withdrawal.

In a letter addressed to the President of the Republic and to the Minister of National Education, they evoke an “alarming” health situation and deem “irresponsible to put their life and that of their family in danger”.

And since the start of the pandemic, the Eugène-Delacroix high school has paid a heavy price for Covid-19, with the death of around twenty parents of students identified to date.

"We were told this number during the last board of directors in December," said Fabrice Morel, teacher and delegate of SNES-FSU 93, interviewed Friday by France Bleu Paris.

“Myself, I have two students who have lost their father”.

However, "every time a person dies from Covid-19, an entire family is affected, and children whose lives are affected," said Rodrigo Arenas, co-president of the Federation of Student Parents' Councils. (FCPE).

And today, teachers are asking Jean-Michel Blanquer to protect them ”.

Because the virus continues to circulate actively in the ranks of the school: "We have since last week, in cumulative cases, 36 students and a dozen staff [tested] positive" for Covid-19, said this Sunday Daniel Auverlot, the rector of the academy of Créteil, during a press conference.

“This led the principal to close 12 classes last week”.

Closure of 22 classes and "massive detection" within the establishment

And that's only the beginning.

After the announcement Friday by the Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer of the reinforced health protocol, which plans to close a class as soon as a case of Covid-19 is detected there, it is not less than "22 classes "In total which will be closed from this Monday in the Eugène Delacroix high school, added Daniel Auverlot.

Or "about 500 students" - out of the 2,400 in the establishment - who will be affected by the closures, he said.

In addition, "the inspector of the academy and his assistants will move around the establishment to take full measure of things and see if there are additional evictions to be done and to discuss with all the staff", he declared.

And among the things to do, a "massive detection" of Covid-19 cases will be organized Tuesday and Wednesday in the high school, promised the rector, indicating that initially "it was not planned".

"We will only close as a last necessity"

And "the situation is tense, especially in Ile-de-France and in Hauts-de-France because there are fewer and fewer adults to be able to accommodate all the students", explains Guislaine David, general secretary of Snuipp- FSU, the first primary school union.

According to her, "we are in a degraded mode in many places" and "the schools will end up closing on their own because there will not be enough teachers at all to ensure their proper functioning".

Across the country, the number of students infected with the coronavirus has increased further in one week, from more than 15,000 to more than 21,000 (i.e. a rate of 0.17% against 0.13% there is a week).

The number of contaminated personnel also increased, from 1,809 to 2,515, ie a rate of 0.22%.

And on the whole of the territory, 3,256 classes (against 2,018 a week ago) are closed out of 528,400, and 148 school structures (against 80) are closed out of 61,500, including 116 schools, 22 colleges and 10 high schools.

For its part, the government still refuses a general closure of schools.

"We will only close as a last necessity", repeated the Minister of Health Olivier Véran at the end of the week, also not in favor of the proposal to bring the April vacation forward by two weeks.

"The objective is rather to maintain the schedule because it has not been shown that the holidays result in less contamination than the school period", he insisted.

"We know what to do, but it costs money"

A position "incomprehensible" for Rodrigo Arenas, for whom "the government has not been able to put in place safe health protocols to ensure educational continuity.

Where are the masks, the hand wash basins, the CO2 sensors?

We have been calling for these measures for a year.

We know what to do, but it costs money, and we need resources.

Sufficient means for the school to be done with a good distribution between the distance and the face-to-face, with half-gauges from kindergarten to high school, masks for all, mobile toilets, massive and regular screening, hiring for supervise children both in terms of health in schools and to support their distance learning.

We have a 100 billion euro stimulus plan, which does not provide a cent to finance anti-Covid measures in schools: it is additional violence for teachers and students.

Where is the money for our children's school?

"

A lack of resources that the FCPE regrets.

“We call on all parents, teachers, students and even grandparents to make" casseroles ", to make noise to ask for the necessary means.

Today, for these high school students who have lost a parent to Covid-19, there is no school psychologist, no appropriate care.

Clearly, the parent who remains must pay out of his own pocket for psychosocial sessions.

However, when you have just lost your spouse, when you already have difficulty paying for the masks and daily expenses, it is impossible.

It is a reality in Seine-Saint-Denis, but not only: what is happening today in the 93 is no longer the exception, it is becoming a generality ”.

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  • Drancy

  • High school

  • epidemic

  • Covid 19

  • Health

  • Coronavirus