For them, the deadline of May 11 is "untenable and unrealistic". The mayors of Île-de-France solemnly ask Emmanuel Macron to postpone the reopening of the schools to a date later than May 11.

"We, the mayors of Île-de-France, solemnly ask you to postpone the date of reopening of the schools with regard to the red classified departments and in particular of the Île-de-France to a date later than May 11, which will allow the strict application of an equally strict health protocol which is just beginning to be disseminated to cities ", write the signatory mayors in an open letter to the president, published on Sunday 3 May on the La Tribune website.

These 329 signatories, including the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, denounce a deconfinement "with forced march". "The preparation for the deconfinement is done in a calendar with forced march, while we do not yet have all the information to prepare the population, and that the directives are changing," argue the mayors.

The question of legal responsibility

The city councilors also ask the President of the Republic "not to place the legal, political and moral responsibility for the reopening of the schools on the mayors", while parliamentarians are considering initiatives to better protect the mayors legally.

"Flexibility and adaptation to local conditions are necessary, and mayors obviously wish to be associated with this consultation (...). But the State's disengagement from its responsibilities in education and health, in the midst of a crisis and while the state of emergency is going to be extended, is unimaginable, "they point out.

"Clearly prioritize children"

"Many people do not yet have information on the teachers who would be available for our schools, on the number of animators who may be available for extracurricular activities, or even the number of pupils to welcome", deplore the mayors francilians. Thus, the elected officials call on the government to "clearly prioritize children who can / will have to return to school in Île-de-France taking into account the family context of each child".

The mayors of Île-de-France finally believe that they do not understand "how it is possible to reconcile the objective of volunteering and to overcome social and territorial inequalities".

With AFP

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