The mayors of five small Gard communes will have to open their schools, which were closed following the pandemic of the new coronavirus, on June 15, according to an order of the administrative court of Nîmes made Tuesday after a summary of liberty by the prefect of Gard.
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The summary judge of Nîmes suspended the execution of the municipal decrees concerned and ordered the mayors of Cornillon, Domessargues, Le Martinet, Moulezan and Saint-André-de-Valborgne, municipalities with less than 1000 inhabitants located in the north and north- west of Nîmes, "to ensure the opening and proper functioning of the school ... for June 15".
He notably applied the decision of the Council of State of April 17, 2020 concerning the Municipality of Sceaux and considered that "the municipalities concerned did not produce before him any element capable of characterizing the existence of compelling reasons specific to their situation justifying the mayor's use of his general police powers ”.
"Serious impairment"
The judge deduced from this that the challenged orders refusing the reopening of schools "seriously and manifestly illegal infringe the fundamental freedom represented by the right to education and instruction". The small municipalities concerned had highlighted the difficulty, particularly financial, in applying the very heavy health protocol planned for the opening of schools after confinement and the persistence of risks of contagion.
Justice had also enjoined Friday the city of Marseilles to welcome the pupils of the small and very small sections of nursery school, in the respect of the sanitary rules, going against a decision of the town hall which had postponed their return to September after the deconfinement. The town hall had indicated to appeal the judgment.
In Seine-Saint-Denis, at the end of May, the administrative court of Montreuil had also estimated that the closure until September of nursery schools in Bobigny was "infringing" on the right to education. He had enjoined the town hall to "define the reception arrangements in the large sections of its nursery schools" by the beginning of June.
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