Haifa: More municipal kindergartens are about to close - the parents are protesting in front of the Haifa municipality ► Watch

Update for Wednesday 29/05/24 - The new municipal administration sees great importance in housing young couples in the Hadar neighborhood. The municipality acts in accordance with this commitment and therefore decided to extend the registration for kindergartens by another month, with the hope that the number of children registered for kindergarten will increase in such a way that it will be possible to open all kindergartens in the neighborhood - since the decision to open and close kindergartens is made (in the entire city) according to the children's registration data By their parents. In the meantime, the deputy mayor in charge of the young families file is also examining the after-school programs and an answer on the matter will be given to the parents.

(haipo) - Peony Garden in Remez is closed. This follows on from the Haifa municipality's announcement about the closure of additional gardens. The parents are protesting in front of the Haifa City Hall.

Samer Odeh reports from the protest center in front of the Haifa municipality:

Dozens of parents are protesting at this time (28/5/24, 19:00) outside the municipality demanding the opening of the closed kindergartens.
According to the parents, there are enough registrants and a wrong decision was made in the municipality that hurts the parents. The parents demand to continue the automatic subsidy for after-school care for residents of the Hadar neighborhood. According to the parents, the automatic subsidy helps the population in Hadar, most of whom do not speak Hebrew and do not know how to apply for a subsidy or submit capacity and income documents according to which the subsidy is granted. In addition, this is a benefit intended for residents of the Hadar neighborhood. During the demonstration, the director of the education department arrived and informed the parents that the subsidy had not been canceled.

The municipality: "decline in the number of kindergarten enrollments"

The municipality of Haifa has decided to close a number of municipal gardens in the next school year. According to the municipality, the reason for the closure of the kindergartens is a decrease in the number of kindergarten enrollees. The parents say that each case should be examined individually and see if it is possible to leave a kindergarten, with which there is great satisfaction, open. For example, they say, if there is a compulsory kindergarten with few registrants, it is possible to check whether it is possible to add non-compulsory children to it and thus reach a sufficient number of registrants.

Council members Tatiana John and Jacob Borovsky: The closing of all municipal gardens should be frozen

"freeze all garden closures"

Councilors Tatiana John and Yaakov Borovsky from the Haifa Beytinu Movement have submitted a query regarding the closing of the municipal gardens. They propose to freeze all the closing of compulsory and pre-compulsory kindergartens and to hold a detailed discussion on the factors, the meanings and the approval of the Council on the matter. They explain that the query is the result of many complaints from parents who reached them regarding the issue of closing the kindergartens. In the question, they list the gardens that were before closing: Alon, the Fig, the Elah and the Albraam in Hadar and the Edmonia in Ramot Ramez and claim that these are neighborhoods of young couples, so it is important for them to understand how the decision was made and the criteria according to which a municipal garden is closed.

Peony garden: parents are very satisfied with the garden, and do not want to see it closed

The mother of a child in Admoniya Kindergarten, 16 Habiva Reich Street in Remez, explains that she is very satisfied with the kindergarten and is very upset that she will have to find another kindergarten for her son next school year.

"I learned from rumors that the kindergarten was closed. No one contacted us properly to explain what was happening. My son was assigned to a kindergarten on Fichman Street. We moved to the neighborhood knowing that our children would go to the school built in the neighborhood, and even be in the kindergarten, which is inside the school This is very important to us.

We also have a girl, who is a student at the school next to the kindergarten. When we leave the house for kindergarten and school, we wait fifteen minutes in traffic until we arrive. It doesn't make sense, that we leave the daughter at school after the traffic jams, and have to stand in traffic jams in order to bring the son to the distant kindergarten. The kindergarten on Fichman Street is close to the open school. We are really not interested in any of our children going to another school. The municipality puts an emphasis on brothers being together, so why destroy it. There are solutions that the municipality can produce so that the garden remains open. For example, a peony garden is a mandatory garden only. If the pre-compulsory children were added to the compulsory children, who were enrolled in kindergarten, it would be possible to keep the kindergarten open. Parents who tried to appeal the placement, which they received, were unsuccessful, because the kindergarten is closed. It seems that a decision has already been made not to open the kindergarten."

"I'm not just speaking on my own behalf," adds the mother, "we are a large group of parents, who have registered their children for the next school year, and also parents, who have a child, who they hoped would be in kindergarten in a year or two, and now they fear that it won't happen. What It's a shame that I and many other parents are very satisfied with the kindergarten. The kindergarten is very well-kept and located in the shelter. The school has become a focal point for my children The kindergarten participates in some of the activities, we celebrate holidays together and it's a shame that it will stop."

Municipal gardens at 10 Koresh St. in Hadar Alyon, Fig. and Alon, are to be closed

It should be noted that two municipal kindergartens at 10 Koresh St. in Hadar Elion, the Fig and the Alon, will also be closed next school year. The parents claim that the kindergartens today are very conveniently located and allow the children to be brought to the kindergartens on foot and avoid the traffic jams. In addition, the alternative municipal gardens will be higher and it will be much less convenient to reach them. The parents also note their satisfaction with the current kindergartens and the fact that in the Tana kindergarten, newcomers who arrive can integrate easily, since the kindergarten teachers speak Hebrew and Russian and there are many children who speak Russian.

Haifa Municipality: Decisions on opening and closing kindergartens are made according to the demand for kindergartens

The municipality stated: "The decision to open and close kindergartens is made according to the demand and only after receiving the registration data for all the kindergartens in the city, and so was done in this case as well. Due to a significant decrease in the number of kindergarten children in the Ramot Ramez area for the 15 school year, it was decided to consolidate kindergartens. The children enrolled in Admoniya Kindergarten were placed in the Eucalyptus Kindergarten at 22 Fichman St. and Barkat Kindergarten, (which will operate next year as a compulsory kindergarten) at 1 Gut Levin St. The Haifa Municipality will be happy to reopen the kindergartens as the number of children increases and will allow this as we hope will happen. Later this week, all parents in the city will receive information about their children's placement. The telephone information center of the Education Administration is available for questions on the subject at 700-50-7002-1 extension XNUMX.