The Versailles rectorate sent 120 “so-called disapproval” letters to families last year, 55 of which “seem to raise questions,” said Education Minister Gabriel Attal on Monday during a press briefing at the resulting from a meeting with the rector.
“What I can tell you at this stage, based on the information communicated to me, is that over the 2022-2023 school year, 120 so-called letters of disapproval were sent,” detailed the minister.
“55 of them seem to raise questions. And obviously work will continue to identify what led to the sending of these letters, and whether it was justified to send them or not,” he explained after a meeting with the rector of the Versailles academy.
This meeting followed the revelation of a letter with a threatening tone, sent last May by the rectorate to the parents of Nicolas, a teenager who subsequently committed suicide in Poissy (Yvelines) after being the victim of school harassment.
This letter was described as a “shame” by Gabriel Attal, who announced the launch of an audit on the management of cases of harassment during the last school year in each academy. The services of the Versailles academy and its former rector, Charline Avenel, who left in July, have since come under fire.
On Friday, the terms of another letter from the Versailles rectorate, sent in May to parents who complained of sexual touching of their daughter, were also condemned by Gabriel Attal.
“Why did I come here to Versailles, firstly to create transparency. What are we talking about? We are talking about a letter, called a letter of disapproval, which is sent to people when there are threats , sometimes threats to the physical integrity of national education agents”, underlined Gabriel Attal on Monday.
In such a case, “obviously the institution has a vocation to stand alongside its agents and to make it known”, he added.
However, in this case “what happened is that there was an error, a mistake, it was that this letter was addressed to families who should not have received (it) , in situations of school harassment, even sexual assault,” continued the minister, referring to an “not acceptable” incident.
An interministerial plan on school bullying must be unveiled on Wednesday by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne during a press conference.
09/25/2023 19:36:47 – Versailles (AFP) – © 2023 AFP