(haipo) Two six-year-old children from Haifa have not yet started the school year, five weeks after September 1st, due to placement decisions by the Haifa municipality that prevent them from attending the school where their older siblings attend. The two mothers, each raising a six-year-old child who is still at home instead of attending first grade, describe an unimaginable reality: new schoolbags waiting in the room, children who want to go to school, and parents who beg for a reasonable placement, but encounter a bureaucratic wall that prevents them from starting the year. They claim that the municipality insists on placing the children in other schools, even though these are families from Haifa, whose older siblings attend the same institution, and despite the logistical and emotional difficulties that have arisen.
“My daughter wants to study, but I have no way to send her”
The mother of one of the girls says that her six-year-old daughter has been sitting at home for more than a month. “I’m talking to you and my daughter is here next to me,” she says. “I just can’t believe that even though she wants to start school so much and her new schoolbag is waiting in the room, she’s still with me. But with all due respect, I have no way of sending her to the school that the municipality gave her, when she has two older brothers, at Al-Khuyar School.”
She said she has repeatedly contacted the municipality and asked to place her daughter in the same school as her siblings. “I can’t understand why my daughter can’t go to the school where her two older brothers go. Why should she go to another school, where she doesn’t know anyone, and where there will be no one to take care of her and help me get her to and from school.”
The mother adds that the feeling is of a lack of care on the part of the system. “My feeling is that all the doors are closing in my face, and no one is bothered by the fact that my daughter hasn’t started school yet.”
“My son has been home for over a month – and I am a single parent”
The mother of another six-year-old boy tells a nearly identical story. “Before the start of the school year, we received a notice that my son was to start first grade at the Achwa School, which is located in Wadi Nisnas. At first, I was sure it was a mistake, because my son has an older sister at the Al-Khuyar School.”
The mother applied to the municipality to place her son in the same institution where his sister studies, but she says she was denied. “They told me that my son’s name was designated. It didn’t help that I am a single parent and suffer from a health problem, so it’s hard for me to send each child to a different school.”
She adds that she doesn't understand the insistence. "It's not that in El Javier there are classes with 40 students and there's no room for my child. They simply insist that according to the registration area, this is my son's school, even though my eldest daughter was recently sent, by the same municipality, to El Javier."
She says her son has been sitting at home for over a month, while all his friends are studying in first grade every day. “I really don’t understand why.”
The parents' committee warned in advance - the municipality refused
Before the start of the school year, the parents' committee of the Al Khoyar School contacted the municipality and warned that there were parents who wanted their children to start school at the school. The chairman of the parents' committee, Richard Karem, explained that the municipality's refusal harms not only the children themselves and their families, but also the school as a whole.
He says that the fewer students and fewer classrooms, the fewer school officials are needed, which directly harms students. “When you reduce classrooms, you also reduce essential positions,” he says. “It harms the pedagogical stability of the school.”
Al-Khuyar School: A Unique Educational Institution
Al-Khuyar State School, located in Wadi Nisnas, is a unique educational institution operating on the basis of a democratic and humanistic model. It was founded in 2004 following a struggle by a parents' association that sought to offer an educational alternative to Arab society in Haifa. It currently has approximately 244 students from grades 1 to 8, coming from all over the city.
Many parents choose to send their children to Al-Khuyar because of the community-based educational approach, the personal approach, and the emphasis on student engagement. For these families, placing them in another school is not just a logistical matter, but a significant educational choice.
Ongoing struggle over infrastructure and new building
Alongside the enrollment crisis, the Al-Khuyar School has been dealing with serious infrastructure problems for years. The parents' committee has been fighting the municipality and the Ministry of Education to demand improvements to the building, which they claim is overcrowded and neglected.
In the summer of 2024, a significant achievement was achieved: the municipality approved a budget of approximately 7 million shekels for the renovation and use of an adjacent building for the school. But despite the approval, parents claim that delays in implementing the budget continue, and that the physical conditions still make the educational routine difficult.
The registration crisis: a threat to the stability of the institution
The most immediate crisis is the municipality's refusal to approve the registration of new students, including children whose siblings are already attending the school. The parents' committee warns that reducing the number of students could lead to staff cuts and severely damage the school's management.
One of the main concerns is the elimination of the vice principal position, a critical role in Al-Khuwiar’s alternative education model. “When you reduce students, you also reduce positions,” says the committee chairman. “It hurts all students.”
Registration Policy in Haifa: Between Registration Zones and Supra-Regional Schools
The enrollment policy in Haifa is based on a division into enrollment zones, with each student assigned to the school closest to their place of residence. In addition, there are several supra-regional institutions operating in the city, including Al-Khuyar, which allow students to enroll from all over the city. In practice, the combination of the two mechanisms creates complexity: parents request to enroll their children in a supra-regional institution where their siblings study, but the municipality sometimes insists on placement according to residential area.
Many parents claim that the policy is inconsistent, and that sometimes one child in a family is sent to a supra-regional institution while his sibling is assigned to a neighborhood school. The result is a logistical burden on families, a disruption to educational continuity, and a sense of injustice. On the other hand, the municipality claims that it is obligated to maintain a balance between the wishes of the parents and the schools' absorption capacity, and that every decision is made based on professional criteria.
Parents: “Bureaucracy leaves children at home”
The parents of the two six-year-old children describe an unimaginable reality: children who want to study, new schoolbags waiting in the room, and an assignment that does not allow them to start the year.
“I don’t understand why they insist on me,” says one of the mothers. “My son has been sitting at home for over a month. All his friends are studying every day in first grade. Why can’t he be with his sister?”
The municipality's response
The municipality said it was prevented from providing details regarding specific students due to privacy concerns. The municipality said that placement is carried out in accordance with the municipal registration policy, the Ministry of Education guidelines and the absorption capacity of each institution. “We understand the desire of parents for their children to study with their siblings,” it said, “but the authority is obliged to act in accordance with the rules that apply to all students in the city.”
The municipality added that parents have the right to appeal to the Ministry of Education, and that the ministry's decision is the decisive authority.
Something is happening with the Haifa Municipality, many complaints. Lately, complaints have been made about all the municipal departments in the services provided to the public. On the face of it, the truth is not understood why they don't come together for each family to be assigned to the school closest to their home. The child integrates thanks to siblings who are close to him, neighbors he knows. And not throw him away from everyone close to him. Once upon a time, every child was registered in a school that was close to him, close to his home. . And not go a kilometer away from his natural environment. Really wrong. What happened in the departments? Lack of consideration. People without a heart! That's what I heard in other offices like welfare. There is no response. Everyone comes in and slams the door in their faces. What happened to the Haifa Municipality, which always excelled in everything?