Champel district: Specific measures for pupils returning to school

In the Champel district, specific measures have been taken to ensure that pupils return to school in the best possible conditions, despite the increased number of pupils attending school and making use of extracurricular facilities. By presenting these measures in a clear and transparent manner, the new Administrative Councillor, Christina Kitsos, wants to highlight the fact that she has already begun constructive discussions with her colleague, Frédérique Perler, to prioritise investments in school and extracurricular infrastructures. “These are legal obligations which must be addressed urgently. Schools are key factors of social cohesion and an essential part of community life.”

The work on installing eight temporary classroom units will begin this summer and is scheduled for completion in December 2020. The 12 classroom units (four are already on site) will be ready for January 2021.

During the ongoing work, the existing classroom units will not be accessible. Four classes at Le Corbusier school will therefore be temporarily transferred to les Crêts-de-Champel school. A shuttle will be introduced in order to take children to and from the school in the morning, at lunchtime (for those return home) at 4 p.m. and at the end of the day. Children who eat at the school canteen and make use of the extracurricular facilities at 4 p.m. will remain at les Crêts-de-Champel.

Access to Le Corbusier school and the school yard will be protected while work is ongoing, but the space available remains sufficient. The aim is to create a set of twelve high-quality, interconnected classroom units seamlessly incorporated into the site in order to limit the effect on the surrounding nature, in particular with regard to felling trees which are greatly appreciated by the local inhabitants.

It should be noted that all necessary measures have been taken to minimise the inconveniences for the organisation of the families concerned. Siblings, for example, have not been separated.

Prospects

According to Christina Kitsos, it is essential to ensure coherent information is communicated to the families concerned in order to reassure them. “I want to be entirely transparent. We are making every effort to create the best possible conditions for the return to school in 2020, knowing that the situation may be even more difficult in 2021 and more particularly 2022 and 2023 if no decision is taken concerning the prioritisation of investments in school and extracurricular facilities.”

With this in mind, the Administrative Councillor has announced that together with her colleague, Frédérique Perler, she will publish a revised school plan at the end of the summer for the period 2020-2027.