The Ministry of National Education has published a list of 200 high schools to be renovated as a priority, without consulting the regions. Elected officials denounce a classification disconnected from real needs and a communication operation.
Publi-Information 
Thursday November 5, 2026, regional presidents strongly contested the method of the Ministry of National Educationafter the publication of a list of 200 establishments considered priorities for work on their buildings. In a letter addressed to Minister Édouard Geffray and consulted by the AFP, the elected officials denounce an initiative carried out without consultation, which they consider as questionable in substance as in form; the communities having not been contacted in order to verify their relevance. “This method is not acceptable“, write regional officials in their letter dated November 5.
THE high school Théodore-Aubanel, has Avignon (83), here in photo, figure, to sides of high school versatile Philippe-de-Girard, among THE 200 establishments identified as priority by THE ministry of Education national, has leave of the reports collected with of the students. Built between 1800 And 1958, Aubanel welcomes some 1 600 students In A together of 17 796 m2. He do Already the object of a vast program of rehabilitation And of renovation energy pilot by there Region South, of which the envelope of works East fixed has 7.3 million euros Excl. tax. Led in site busy by THE office Marseille i-Lot Architecture, THE construction site foresees notably THE redevelopment of boarding school, there restructuring of the spaces administrative And of the rooms of the teachers, there creation of local teaching technical And professional Thus that there putting in accessibility of the establishment. © Tuesday Echo
A classification deemed disconnected from real needs
Beyond the lack of consultation, the regions are attacking the way in which this list was constituted; because based solely on the contributions collected on the internet, the classification would not, according to them, make it possible to seriously prioritize the renovation needs:Lhe alerts from high school students deserve better than a demagogic communication exercise. Based solely on contributions collected online, this ranking measures neither the seriousness of the difficulties, nor the urgency of the work, nor the size of the establishments, nor even less whether work is in progress or has been carried out.“, denounce the elected officials.
The signatories claim that simple checks would have made it possible to avoid several errors. They cite in particular establishments in Martinique which have been completely renovated, as well as a Sartrouville high school having recently received an architecture prize. “Basic checks would have allowed you to detect high schools in this list that have been completely renovated (like in Martinique) or have even recently received an architecture prize. (as in Sartrouville)”, they continue.
The regions also point “serious factual errors” in the document, particularly on the number of high schools present in each region. Enough to weaken, in their eyes, the credibility of a classification supposed guide investment priorities in school buildings.
Here, in the photo, the Élisabeth and Robert Badinter high school in Cournonterral (34), welcomed its first students at the start of the school year. Financed by the Occitanie Region for the modest sum of 52 million euros, this new establishment of 16,500 m2 will ultimately be able to accommodate 1,400 high school students. Geared towards digital and IT professions, it includes a 50-place boarding school, a school restaurant and a sports area. Designed for positive energy, it combines geothermal energy, photovoltaic panels and biosourced materials. Obviously, this brand new establishment is not among the 200 high schools affected by the renovation work (and has not suffered any damage following the demonstrations). © Laure Pophillat
“Let the State take care of its skills“
The protest goes beyond just the list of establishments since regional elected officials categorically reject the idea of a national school building observatorybelieving that the State is encroaching on the responsibilities of communities. “Let the State take care of its skills, and let the regions manage theirs“, they write, before asserting “categorically refuse any project for a national school building observatory“.
The question of financial means also fuels anger. In the midst of a budgetary debate, the regions recall that the finance bill for 2027 provides for a levy of “more than a billion euros“on their resources, while elected officials estimate the cumulative amount of deductions made over the last three years at 2.7 billion euros. A sum corresponding, according to them, to “the amount that regions devote each year to investment in high schools“.
The envelope of 4 billion euros in loans over four years proposed by the government does not seem to meet the needs either. Regional officials believe that it “does not constitute a proposal that meets the challenges“and denounce a”headlong flight into debt“. According to them,are “high schools need resources, not statistical rankings“.
For example, at high school Henri-IV, has Paris, here in the photo, the means were put in several operations of renovation having summer carried out these latest years. So, between 2020 And 2022, there cupola of there library of the Génovéfains has do the object of a restoration of 3.2 million euros, carrying notably on its framework, his stained glass windows And his decorations. In august 2024, THE redevelopment of the course Descartes And Musset, For 1.035 million euros excluding tax, has permit of replace of the facilities dilapidated by of the spaces vegetated, endowed of furniture And of coatings adapted, in order to to improve THE comfort of the students as of restrict THE islets of heat. And one new operation come complete this transformation with the extension of there court of Meridian. From a Rising of close of 2.8 million euros, THE project foresees A building educational in R+1 has framework drink of 600 m2, welcoming six rooms of class. Insulation bio-based in Metis, THE floors And there roofing in CLT, THE cladding associating drink natural And drink burned Thus that there roofing vegetated respond to requirements of there RE2020. © Gilles Pophillat
In Nantes, a fire which could cost 4 million euros
THE tensions around the renovation of school buildings take on particular significance with the disaster occurred at the Nelson-Mandela high school in Nantes. Indeed, the entrance hall of theestablishment was destroyed by arson on October 1, in the context of a high school movement accompanied by blockages. That morning, around 7 o’clock, “several hooded young people placed trash cans and urban equipment in front of the high school entrance door, setting them on fire, some of them with aerosols projecting flames“, recalls the public prosecutor of Nantes, Antoine Leroy. “Mortar fire was also fired towards the high school gate, which was completely blocked by a pile of rubbish.“, he continues.
The Nelson Mandela high school in Nantes, here in the photo, opened at the start of the 2014 school year, was only twelve years old when it was partially destroyed by arson on October 1, 2026. The fire spread to the entrance and the roof, breaking windows and damaging the photovoltaic panels, the refectory as well as some rooms of the boarding school, then occupied by students. The damage is estimated has 4 million euros by there Region Country of there Loire. A partial reopening of the establishment is planned for November 16. © Sébastien Salom-Gomis / AFP
The next day, investigators noted the presence of trash cans.near the point of carbonization“and raised”the use of accelerating products of petroleum and liquid origin“. The investigation led to thearrest of three 16 year old studentsplaced in police custody Tuesday morning; two of them were referred Thursday morning to the Nantes public prosecutor’s office. According to the prosecutor, they admitted “part of the materiality of the facts“As for the custody of the third teenager, it has been lifted,”the investigations and hearings do not allow, as it stands, to formally implicate him“, explained Antoine Leroy. One of the young people arrested is known to the police and the justice system.
The three high school students had been placed in police custody on several counts, including participation in a group formed with a view to preparing violence or destruction during a demonstration on a public highwaythe destruction of someone else’s property by a means dangerous to people during a demonstration, as well as the destruction or damage by an organized gang of someone else’s property by a means dangerous to people. This last fact, of a criminal nature, is punishable by 20 years of imprisonment, recalls the prosecution.
