2023-09-21 09:40:00
The Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Navarra (TSJN) has upheld the appeal presented by families of the San Juan de la Cadena public school in Pamplona and has agreed to maintain the implementation of the continuous day, as had been agreed. approved in December 2021 by vote.
In their claim, the appellants requested the annulment of Foral Order 182E/2022 of the Minister of Education and that the implementation of the continuous school day for the 2022/23 academic year be declared appropriate.
In July 2022, the Court agreed as a precautionary measure to maintain said continuous day during the aforementioned academic year and ordered the Department of Education to allow its application.
Subsequently, in January of this year, the Court extended this measure for the 2023/24 school year.
Now, in the ruling, which can be appealed in cassation before the TSJN itself, the magistrates analyze the only administrative requirement that, in the opinion of the Department of Education, the center failed to comply with and, therefore, invalidates the procedure followed.
In this regard, the magistrates ensure that the center’s management completed all the procedures required by Education, except for the meeting of the management team with the families, which was replaced by the referral to them by email of the complete project that had been been provisionally approved by the teaching staff and the school council, as well as the instructions for voting and all the information necessary to exercise the right to vote.
In this case, as the judges explain, the purpose of the meeting was also fulfilled, so it cannot be considered that an essential procedural act has been omitted, in the sense of having omitted information to the parents about the planned day. continues, even if the information was not carried out in the manner provided for in Resolution 411/2021, of September 30, of the Director General of Education, determining the nullity of the subsequent vote.
Families were not prevented from learning about the project
“It must be taken into account that doubts about the procedure were resolved by mail, as seen in the documentary sent by the center at the request of the plaintiff, by telephone or in person to the parents who raised them, as stated by the director in his witness statement, but without mass meetings, avoiding the possibility of Covid infections due to this cause,” highlights the Chamber.
According to the judges, even in the contested Provincial Order it is admitted that a telematic meeting would have been valid and at the end of it the corresponding minutes would have been drawn up, which shows that the face-to-face meeting was not essential for the explanation of the continuous working day project and of the procedure to the parents.
The Court concludes that “the director’s action was not arbitrary, as has already been noted above, nor did it prevent the parents from knowing all the aspects of the Continuous Day Project and resolving all doubts before the vote. Therefore, there is no cause for nullity of the vote by operation of law for this reason.”
For the magistrates, there is no evidence that the parents were prevented from meeting to discuss the project, nor was their right to meet affected, as the Administration’s defense alleges, so the cause of nullity provided for by law does not apply either.
Examined the administrative file, they add, there is no evidence that parents were hindered from exercising their right to vote on the Project, since 81.52% of the census participated, nor did it distort the meaning of the vote in favor of the continuous day, all time that the fact of not voting was equivalent to a negative vote, that is, “no” to the Continuous Working Day Project.
“There are no elements in the procedure that allow us to think that the parents voted very largely YES to the Project without knowing what they were voting for, because the information was received by email, instead of in a face-to-face meeting. Thus, there were 331 votes cast; 247 votes in favor of the project (60.8% of the census of 406 voters); 82 votes against; 1 blank vote; and 1 null vote. The favorable vote meets the requirement of 3/5 in favor of continuous working hours,” the Court notes.
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