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When Harry Christophe, Vice-Rector for Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy of the Académie de Guadeloupe, arrived at the gates of the Gustavia school complex on Monday September1, he was convinced that he was in for a peaceful back-to-school visit.he was going to make a peaceful back-to-school visit in the company of the Prefect's Director of Cabinet, Marie-Hildegarde Chauveau, the President of the Collectivité territoriale, Xavier Lédée, and the school's Director, Agnès Combin. In fact, after a few cordial exchanges in the courtyard, the small group of officials was joined by four parents' representatives. After learning, two days before the start of the school year, that teachers were missing in Gustavia, the parents were determined to obtain explanations from the Vice-Rector.
The headmistress invited her visitors into an unoccupied classroom to formalize the meeting. Much to the surprise of the Vice-Rector, who, unhappy with the turn of events, scolded at the end of the meeting: "The purpose of my visit was indeed a back-to-school visit. So when it's about something else, I want to be warned", for the meeting proved, at times, to be most incisive.
For the parents' representatives (Joyce Conroy-Aktouche, Anne-Lise Finot, Lætitia le Gac and Nicolas Benazzouz), the aim was to get answers about the school's future.was to obtain answers to the rectorat's recurrent difficulties in guaranteeing the presence of teachers on the first day of school. But also the reasons behind the "lack of anticipation in recruitment" and "disparities in treatment between teachers".
"Solutions exist
For all the questions raised, the parents assure us that solutions exist. At the very least, they are proposing them, when they are not listing legal texts that would enable national regulations to be adapted to the particularities of Saint-Barthélemy. They also point out that these same proposals have already been submitted to the education authority on several occasions over the past school year. Emails remained "unanswered", they insist. It's annoying to be on such a small territory, to have teachers on site who have other activities because we can't recruit them," complains the school group's headmistress. Harry Christophe asserts: "You can't recruit someone before the need arises."A parent retorts: "It's not a problem of the person, it's a problem of method. Solutions do exist, and the rectorat cannot shirk its responsibilities."
One of the parents' representatives points out that "the great luxury on Saint-Barthélemy is proximity", and elaborates: "This enables us to find solutions. Legal texts need to be adapted to our territory. It's unacceptable for the French mammoth to prevent us from moving forward". For the parents, it is essential that the rectorat commits to "effective, concrete and immediate measures" to ensure that each post is filled on time.
Although tempers sometimes flared during the discussions, a certain cordiality prevailed. Not least thanks to the calming interventions of the prefect's chief of staff. Senator Micheline Jacques, who arrived during the meeting, also provided the parents with some information.
The meeting ended with the formulation of five proposals: the drafting of a note on the recruitment process, organizing a meeting before the end of the calendar year to prepare for the start of the 2026 school year, exploring avenues with the Ministry of National Education to make recruitment procedures more flexible, validating thePresident Lédée's announcement of the creation of an English teaching position financed by the Collectivitéfind a solution with the Agence régionale de santé (regional health agency) for the "mutualization" of the school doctor.
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A hectic pre-season at the Gustavia school group
It was announced that the first day of the new school year would be a quiet one at the Gustavia school complex. Nothing could be further from the truth. On Friday August 29, the management discovered that three classes did not have their own teacher. Two were for kindergarten and one for CM2. Parents were informed, and the prospect of a chaotic start to the new school year immediately provoked an almost general mobilization.
Anger, indignation, concern, exasperation... the feelings of both the school's teaching staff and the parents are numerous and intense. For several reasons. First, the fact that the problem has been recurring for many years. Admittedly, some new school years are less problematic than others. But accurate enrolments rarely fail to cause problems. In 2024-2025, for example, the school group was forced to operate without a substitute teacher. Given that the school has eighteen classes, the exercise proved acrobatic, to say the least. This time, the reaction was immediate.
While the number of phone calls and e-mails to the rectorat and the elected representatives of the Collectivité territoriale multiplied, the headmistress flew to to Saint-Martin to attend a meeting with the new rector of the Guadeloupe education authority, the new inspector and the vice-rector, Harry Christophe.
A cancelled mobilization
In the absence of any guarantee that a teacher would be present in front of each class on the first day of school, Monday September1, a mobilization of the teaching staff and parents was scheduled in front of the school. Nevertheless, solutions were found. Interviews with teachers likely to fill the positions quickly were scheduled. But these were scheduled for Monday morning, which meant that some pupils would not be able to start the new school year for lack of a teacher. However, on Sunday August 31, the decision was finally taken not to demonstrate in front of the school the following morning.
On the other hand, when Vice-Rector Harry Christophe visited the school in the early afternoon of Monday September1, he came under fire from parent representatives for an explanation. According to his statements, the posts were to be allocated during the course of the week. If this is not the case, there is no doubt that the rectorate will have to deal with a more ferocious grumble from staff and parents in the coming days.
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Senator Micheline Jacques reassures
On Saturday August 30, Saint-Barthélemy Senator Micheline Jacques clarified the situation at the Gustavia school complex. Via an online publication, the parliamentarian said she had spoken with the vice-rector, Harry Christophe, and wrote: "In the first place, particularly given the housing difficulties we're experiencing, most of the teachers don't want to or can't move to Saint-Barthélemy. In addition, the rules of the French Education Ministry do not allow us to consider appointing contract teachers to positions not filled before September 1 of this year. The rector assures me that contract staff should be appointed so that each class has a teacher from September1 or 2.
It's clear that the rules governing assignment no longer correspond to the reality and constraints of Saint-Barthélemy. I'm doing everything I can to ensure that the State adapts them. Last year, every class was covered, and everything is being done to ensure that this will be the case again this year.
At the same time, Francius Matignon, second vice-president of the Collectivité territoriale, in charge of education, also published a statement online. Referring to the Gustavia school group, the elected official stated: "The three posts that remained unassigned will be filled for the start of the new school year. The delay is due to necessary verifications, in particular for two candidates already holding positions in other schools. To date, the Vice-Rector confirmed to me this morning that the contracts are being drawn up and that everything necessary has been done.
