Back to school? "If there is no protected space - we will not send our children"

Parents of children whose educational frameworks do not have a protected space or it is not proper claim that the activity cannot be returned as long as there are no protected spaces for the children. According to them, it cannot be that until yesterday (Monday, 23/10/2023) at 18:00 there were restrictions on activities in kindergartens and schools, and from 18:00 all restrictions were lifted, even though there are no protected areas for children. As I recall, yesterday at 18:00 the Home Front Command announced that Haifa has become a green city, and there are no restrictions on returning to school.

Gordon School: The parents will not send their children to school because there are no protected areas

Liat Nachmani, the chairman of the parents' leadership at Beit Gordon in Kiryat Haim explains that the parents will not send the children to school, when the school has no protected spaces at all:
"The Gordon school is the only school in Haifa that does not have any means of protection. The school is built on one floor in the shape of an H, so all the walls are exterior. There is not even a stairwell to get to. For 80 years the school has not had its structure strengthened. The result is that If the school does not take a direct hit, it may be damaged by a missile falling in its vicinity.

For 5 years I have been fighting for the protection of the school. All the parties know that there is no means of protection in the school. If there is an alarm while the children are at school, all they have to do is pray. I was on tours from the city engineer, the Home Front Command, the mayor and the security department. Everyone is aware of this. We are not ready for our children to be homeless.

Inside the house when there is protection the children are afraid, when there are alarms, so what will happen at school? Who takes responsibility for this?

No one can say we didn't know. We are not going to send the children to school as long as the war lasts. It was possible for so long to take care of protection. There is a building permit, which has already been submitted, to protect the school. For several years we have been told that soon they will take care of protected areas, and nothing is being done. This is a construction permit for 4 shelters and nothing is happening."

Gan Or on Horev Street: There is no protected space

At the beginning of Horev Street there is a cluster of gardens. One of them is Gan Or, a religious state garden. The father of one of the girls in the kindergarten said today that there is no protected space in the kindergarten.
"There is no shelter or shelter in the garden. Both in the past and now we turned to the municipality and the Home Front Command to ask what to do in such a situation. My daughter is 5 years old and I have a 12 year old daughter, even when she was in kindergarten, this was the situation in kindergarten. In all the years that have passed, no solution has been found. Another problem is that there is no guard at the entrance to the garden cluster. There is a guard position, but in recent months there has been no guard. It frustrates a lot of parents. The Home Front Command told us that at most we can use the toilet as a toilet, but this contradicts their instructions, since there is china in there, which could explode.

There is another garden next to ours. We turned to them to ask if in the event of an alarm our kindergarten children could join them. They told us that there is no place in their kindergarten for their children. The nearby Zichron Yosef school may have a protected area. The question is, how can a large number of children aged 4-5 go to school within a minute? There is no chance. I'm not going to send my daughter tomorrow. It is the municipality's role to help us in this situation, and nothing is being done."

Pre-compulsory kindergarten in Carmel French

A mother of a girl in pre-compulsory kindergarten in Carmel Sharfati said that two children arrived at the kindergarten today.
"My daughter has a shelter in the kindergarten, but it is not working properly. There is no air conditioner, and no one comes to fix it. There is also no vent. It is not possible for the responsibility to fall on the parents. Today only 2 children came to the kindergarten.

According to the Home Front Command, Haifa is green, but how can children be sent to kindergarten, when the MMD or the shelter is not in order?

There are many kindergartens without indecent places, without a proper safety net. Parents are afraid and don't send. The staff themselves are also naturally afraid. I don't understand if people don't learn a lesson? Our children are not the homeless. What will happen if there is an alarm? What will happen if someone jumps Over the fence and God forbid he will enter the garden? Why are we taking responsibility? We don't understand what is going on here.

Put the children at home for another week, and fix things. It is not possible for our children to be in an unprotected kindergarten? I speak for all parents. Everyone here is not ready for this promiscuity. Yesterday the municipality talked about an outline, what happened since then? Something is wrong. The parents are scared, it keeps us from sleeping. We are advice workers. Don't know what can be done. If necessary, we will fix the shelter out of our own pocket, but that is not our job."

A municipal garden in the garden cluster at the beginning of Horev

A mother of a child in a municipal kindergarten in the garden cluster at the beginning of Horev talks about the interception in Ein Carmel, which happened yesterday, Monday, 23/10/2023.
"Our entire Ganim complex is without a protected area. I understood from several parents that for several years now they have been contacting the municipality to see what can be done and nothing has been done. We are considered green. As if there was no interception in the eye of the bay, which is not far from us. I am not sending my son tomorrow To kindergarten. I know there are parents who have to send, because they have to go to their workplace. We are asking for another place that will cater to our children. I have friends with children in kindergartens in Neve Sha'anan and there are no kindergartens there either. Our children have no experience, and only after there is a disaster, will they see what can be done. It should not come at the expense of our children. It cannot be that it is more important for the municipality to take care of pigs than children."

A permanent solution cannot be found overnight

It should be noted that some parents are talking about adding safeguards, since it is clear to them that a permanent solution cannot be found overnight. Yesterday, in a Facebook live held by the municipality, Mayor Dr. Einat Kalish Rotem addressed the solution to the shelters, and said that there are 284 municipal gardens in Haifa, so it is understandable that shelters cannot be placed quickly near all the municipal gardens. Moreover, she explained that the shelters are not always large enough In order to provide a solution for all kindergarten children at once.

Parents of Shalio Kindergarten in Romma: "If there is no protected space in the kindergarten, the municipality should provide an alternative structure"

The parents of Shelio Kindergarten in Old Rome sent a letter to the municipality in which they explain that the municipality should provide an alternative structure for the kindergarten, if it does not have a protected space.

"Hello, we are the parents of Shelio Kindergarten, located on Keren Hayesod Street in the old Romema neighborhood. As mentioned, this is a kindergarten for ages 3-5, which currently has about 32 children in the kindergarten.
Inside the kindergarten building, there is no protected space for the children and the staff except for the toilets designated as a safe space in the kindergarten, while its walls are generally the kindergarten walls, with windows and no door (of course not a standard one). In addition, the kindergarten as a whole is not adapted in its area for such a number of children and in particular the bathroom (which was defined as protected) cannot accommodate the number of children educated in the kindergarten and the staff. Likewise, any other protected space in the vicinity of the kindergarten will not be able to provide an adequate response to a situation where an alarm sounds, since it is impossible to evacuate such a number of children within a minute in accordance with the instructions.

We are in a period of uncertainty and stability regarding the nature and duration of the war (which may continue for months!) but it is clear that the ambition is to return to conducting a normal routine alongside the fighting.
It is unthinkable that in the surrounding cities and later this week - also in our city - the children will return to the educational frameworks, while our children will be left in their homes without any adequate response due to the lack of preparedness and preparation of the municipal authority.

We demand that he find an alternative building (even if outside the neighborhood) that can serve our child as a permanent way for the fighting period and that will meet the aforementioned safety requirements. We would like to receive your answer and how to handle the application urgently."

Father of a child in pre-compulsory kindergarten: "The kindergarten teacher sent a message that the kindergarten opens tomorrow without a protected area"

A father of a child in a pre-compulsory preschool in Kiryat Bialik was surprised to receive a message from the kindergarten teacher that his son's kindergarten would open tomorrow without a protected area.
"This is a new kindergarten. I can't believe that I've come to a situation where I have to beg for a protected space. A few months ago I contacted the municipality and was alerted to the fact that, although it is a kindergarten for children with special needs, there is no suitable protected space. The kindergarten teacher sent us a message today that we are going back to school tomorrow without A protected space. No one takes responsibility, if something untoward happens in the kindergarten. At the same time, I contacted the municipality today and they told me that there is nothing to be done, it's instructions from the Home Front Command. It's a disgrace. I don't intend to send my son to kindergarten."

Israel Savion: It is better not to make rash decisions that would endanger the children

The former director general of the municipality and member of the board of the pensioners' lobby Israel Savion also believes that it is better not to return the children to the frameworks, until we know for sure that they are protected:
"I think that due to the complex security situation, when there is heavy fog around the northern sector and there is great doubt about what Hezbollah is planning, when of course we hope that it is not plotting something similar to what we saw in the south, and when there is doubt, there is no doubt, one should exercise extra caution despite the desire to return life to normal. I have experience as the CEO of a municipality and the former holder of the education portfolio, and I have no doubt that it is better not to make rash decisions.

In a large part of the educational institutions there is no shelter that can accommodate all the students in the event of an alarm and with all the respect I have for the Home Front Command and all the security forces, after the resounding failure in the south, we must be extra careful until there is a ground entry by the IDF and we know where the north is facing in the matter of security What's more, the education system does not give its opinion regarding special education, for single mothers and children with disabilities, who cannot evacuate like the other children at the moment of an alarm."

Haifa Municipality: "We operate under the instructions of the Home Front Command"

The municipality informed Lahi Pa in response that it operates under and closely to the directives of the Home Front Command and this is how it operates throughout the war.
"The education administration in the municipality prepared ahead of time for a state of emergency routine by establishing an outline, according to which all educational institutions operate in protected places and on shifts. In the last 48 hours, the Home Front Command released all restrictions and made it possible to have a full school routine.
Accordingly, the municipality returned the studies in the educational institutions in order to allow the students the educational and routine response they need. At the same time, the complexity and difficulty of the parents with the situation are understandable, so in the end the choice of whether to send the children to the educational institutions remains with the parents. The municipality of Haifa allowed educational institutions that requested it to hold Zoom classes today."

Kiryat Bialik Municipality: "The Home Front Command is aware of shelter gaps"

The municipality of Kiryat Bialik stated in response to Haifa that the Home Front Command knew about the reception gaps, and despite this returned the area to normal: "The Home Front Command determined last night that the Kiryat area is a green area, that is, an area that returns to full normality without restrictions. According to the instructions of the Home Front Command that is aware For Pa'ari a shelter and yet he returned our areas to full normality, for institutions that do not have a protected space, we must follow the most protected procedure available. At the same time, regarding the special education kindergartens, we found alternative solutions."