Elisabeth Borne denounces “a failure” after the “offbeat” letter from the Versailles rectorate to parents

“Clearly, there is a failure in the type of response addressed to extremely worried parents.” In an interview with BFMTV on Saturday September 16, the Prime Minister denounced the letter from the Versailles rectorate addressed to the parents of the 15-year-old teenager who committed suicide on September 5, at his home in Poissy (Yvelines). The high school student had been victim of harassment during the 2022-2023 school year. Two investigations were opened, one judicial and one administrative.

This statement from the Prime Minister comes after BFMTV’s revelations of three letters. In the first, dated April 18, 2023, the teenager’s parents write to the principal after a meeting about the harassment of their son. They announced that a handrail had been left at the Poissy police station, not seeing any arrival “the answer” promised by the head of the establishment. In a letter dated May 20, the principal defends himself by explaining the actions put in place.

“The goal is for this not to happen again.”

But it is the third letter which is targeted by Elisabeth Borne. In this letter dated May 4, the Versailles rectorate denounced the parents’ attitude. “You questioned the functions and threatened to file a complaint against the management staff of the vocational school (…) You criticized the latter for their passivity in the face of supposed harassment suffered by your child.we can read. The rectorate also mentions the article of the Penal Code which punishes slanderous denunciations, reminding parents that they are punishable by five years of imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros. “I urge you to henceforth adopt a constructive and respectful attitude towards the members of the educational community”it is also written.

The head of government judged this letter “out of step with the pain of the families”. “This is the meaning of the plan that I want to present against harassment, that we are much more attentive to the words of children, and that involves training all adults in contact with them to fully understand the pain that they can feel, she added. The goal is for this not to happen again.”