SXMElections.com

MARIGOT--A delegation of Collectivité and education officials met with parents at the Cul-de- Sac Primary School on Tuesday morning in an attempt to explain the reasoning and functioning of the “carte scolaire”, the system of allocating a school based on where the child lives.

A collective of some 15 angry parents, who claim the system is not managed properly, locked the school gates with a padlock on Friday. Parents cannot understand that if their children live in Cul-de Sac why they are sent to school in Grand Case, or why children in Orient Bay are sent to school in Marigot instead of French Quarter etc.

Some parents had also accused the principal of the school of slapping misbehaving children and reported this to the Gendarmerie, which subsequently opened an investigation and interviewed some of the pupils. Parents also had other unspecified grievances.

The Collectivité explained that the Cul-de-Sac School is only a small school and demand exceeds the number of places available and this is the reason children are sent to other schools.

Director of Education Médhi Boucard reminded parents that the inscription zone for the Cul-de-Sac Primary School includes the residential areas of Anse Marcel, Mont Vernon, Chevrise, Grand Cayes and Cul-de-Sac.

He said the inscription methods and criteria are identical to those used in France, however, the Collectivité cannot meet all the demands for the medium and small classes of the kindergarten part of the school, due to classrooms being too small (17 places instead of the usual 25).

In a situation where two children are vying for one place, it is the older of the two (by birth date month) who is selected. It was explained this is the accepted rule and the one the system followed.

But specific problems expressed by some parents can also be addressed on a case-by-case basis to see if the Collectivité can find a compromise.

An additional grievance that arose in the last few days was a situation of local parents accusing “metropolitan” parents of wanting to get rid of the school principal. They denied this at the meeting, saying they only want to know if their children are being treated properly by the principal. In France it is against the law to beat or slap a child in school. The subject created some debate with local parents saying they did not have a problem if their child had to be disciplined.

Another issue that surfaced was allegations of racism in the school, however, Capitaine Sylvain Jouault indicated Tuesday the Gendarmerie’s investigation has determined there is no evidence of racism and no victims of alleged racism came forward.

The two-and-a-half hour public meeting was presided over by President Aline Hanson, Education Inspector Daniella Dolium, principal of the Cul-de-Sac School Annick Petrus Ferga, Territorial Councillors Louis Fleming and Nadine Paines, Assistant Director General of the Human Development Department Thierry Gombs, Education Director Mehdi Boucard and Human Resources Director Vernon Roper.

Commenting on the parents’ reaction to the meeting, Thierry Gombs said: “I don’t think the parents were totally satisfied. They kept coming back to a black-and-white issue, which we didn’t want to get into. We focused on the carte scolaire to explain that to them, but you simply cannot satisfy everyone.”

The question of the extracurricular activities, before and after classes, was also discussed by some parents anxious to see their children included. The Collectivité confirmed a pre-school of two hours in the afternoon will be provided by associations paid by Collectivité.

Regarding the dispute between parents of students at the school, Hanson condemned all xenophobic insinuations directed at various persons and called for all parties to calm down.

“Living together is a founding principle of our society and the school must be a place of peaceful exchange and enrichment for our youth,” she said. “It is unacceptable to see communities at odds with each other, especially in a multicultural territory, where diversity is a true wealth”.