“Dear families, we inform you that the management team has taken the leave. From the educational inspection they are guiding us….” The boys and girls of the Andreu Castells public school in Sabadell (Barcelona) left class this Tuesday with this brief three-line note that informed the families of the en bloc dismissal of the center’s management. Parents and school have been in conflict for more than three years due to the “low level of education” and the derogatory treatment by the management. Educational inspection has assumed control of the center until a solution is found.
The conflict between the families and the management of the publicly owned school dates back to 2019 with multiple complaints to the management about the low educational level that they consider the boys and girls have. But also because of the forms and treatment of families, a mother who is a member of the Association of Families d’Infants (AFI) of the center has explained to this medium. The bad atmosphere came especially after the arrival of the head of studies three years ago. And in recent weeks, a group of former teachers have joined the complaint and signed a statement regretting the center’s lack of a pedagogical project. Territorial services assure that it was not until this year that they were aware of the problem and that they are working against the clock to achieve a substitute interim management.
“The head of studies arrived and turned everything upside down,” they explain from the AFI. He assures that three years ago they already decided to collect signatures for the management team to change, but the management asked for “an opportunity.” They gave it to her and they consider that they have not taken advantage of it, which is why they demand her resignation. Last Friday the AFI held a meeting with Educació regarding the unsustainable situation and this Tuesday the students left class with a paper informing them that the management was on leave. For the moment, the educational inspection takes the helm immediately until a solution is found. The families warn that they are not satisfied with the withdrawal and warn that they are keeping all the actions underway, among which is a rally this Friday afternoon at the school door.
80% of the families support the revolt, they assure that it is not a problem of lack of resources and they point out that they are not against the teachers at the center. They denounce a drop in the educational level and that when their children make the jump to Secondary School they are the least prepared students in the institute; “They don’t even know how to write a word,” laments the AFI member mother, who considers that the school’s educational project does not require a minimum effort from the children.
In addition to this, they affirm that they have constantly endured derogatory treatment and “ugly responses” from the management, such as that “during school hours they rule over our children.” Christmas and Castanyada are no longer celebrated in the center either, with the argument that they are religious celebrations or that “the weather is not good” to eat chestnuts in the patio.
The families regret that forgiveness is not enough due to the loss of confidence they have in the project and they want a change of direction. “We don’t care about his resignation, we want his resignation,” they demand. They want to return to a school “like the one before” and in accordance with the characteristics of the neighborhood. And they warn that they are keeping all actions underway, among which is a rally this Friday afternoon at the school gate.
