After a Scorching Summer, the State is Removing 80% of a Plan to Adapt School Buildings to Extreme Heat

The Government have reduced this summer, in the midst of a heatwave, its plan to adapt school buildings to extreme heat, reports Politico

A sense of timing as our dear politicians know how to master so well (thanks to them for the show despite everything)! According to Politico, the government have reduced plans that this summer, in the middle of a heatwave, they planned to adapt school buildings to extreme heat, initially allocated 50 million euros.

At the end of June, while a heatwave of unprecedented magnitude transformed many classrooms into ovens, the Minister of the Economy Roland Lescure boasted a plan to adapt thousands of schools to global warming, starting this year.

Two months later, the schoolchildren are returning to school, but the plan has seen its ambition seriously undermined: following a government decision, the planned sum has been divided by five, we have learned from several parties stakeholders.

It all started on June 26. France then found itself at the height of an exceptional heatwave due to its precocity, duration and intensity. Around 4,000 schools have been forced to close at one time or another, and 11,000 establishments have adjusted their schedules or organization, according to the countdown from the government.

That day, the Banque des Territoires and the Actee program, in partnership with the State, detail “an emergency and prevention plan” to facilitate the adaptation of school buildings with 50 million euros.

The amount is divided into two parts. First, an envelope of 10 million euros to carry out a diagnosis in 2,500 schools considered particularly vulnerable to heat. Secondly, the two bodies planned to devote an additional 40 million euros to conduct audits in 10,000 other schools.

This second part is in the dark today. During the summer, according to several stakeholders, the government finally chose to reduce the stakes provided by Actee and to concentrate this “heatwave plan” on the first 2,500 schools, deemed priorities by National Education. According to these same sources, the decision was taken by the government.

Actee confirms a “reframing” of the plan, but nevertheless welcomes a “very good first step forward” and hopes to be able to gain momentum later.

Faced with the government’s declining ambitions, the Banque des Territoires has decided to “increase” its own financial contribution to support “at least” 5,000 schools in carrying out audits, the Caisse des Dépôts subsidiary says without giving the exact amount of this contribution.

The opposition scandalized

However, according to the government, it was decided during the summer to restrict funding to only those 2,500 most vulnerable establishments. The Actee (action of local authorities for energy efficiency) confirms a “reframing” of the project.

The opposition reacted immediately. “Who would have believed it? Once the heatwave has passed, the government is cutting 40 million euros from the emergency plan announced to cool thousands of schools (division by 5)! “, wrote socialist Olivier Faure. LFI MP Hadrien Clouet accuses the government of “preparing to suffocate children”.

The Minister of Ecological Transition Monique Barbut promised conclusions on Thursday “by the end of September” with a five-year financing plan. “We will not have renovated all the schools by next summer”, but “we can at least have shutters and air fans installed there”, she declared.