The tension between parents with daughters enrolled at the Sagrada Familia School in Granada, property of the religious congregation Pureza de María, is in crescendo after the center has vetoed the skirt as a regulatory item of its uniform in this new 2023/2024 academic year. .
The decision of the concerted center, announced in 2019 and which affects first-year Primary school students in this first phase, has been justified by the management team citing “pedagogical reasons” in order to “remove stereotypes”, as detailed in separate communications, something “difficult” to digest for families, who request that a more democratic process be opened to address the suitability of student clothing.
“We ask for explanations and we ask that we be heard,” the spokesperson for the center's parents, Granada lawyer María Santolalla, told La Vanguardia, explaining that the origin of the conflict does not come from the use of the pants themselves but from their “ imposition”, something that clashes head-on with the “freedom to choose” between one garment or another.
The discomfort over this issue was noticeable at the beginning of the school year among the parents of the first-year Primary school students, the first to be affected by the new rule. Plaid skirts with pleats have been eradicated from their classes to make way for the widespread use of pants, a rule that will be implemented in the coming years until in less than a decade the traditional garment worn for generations will go down in the history of the school. . At the moment, the two uniforms coexist although there are no more replacements of the controversial garment.
The problem is getting bigger and bigger as the weeks go by. To such an extent that the parents have chosen to unite to exert force and have appointed a spokesperson, Santolalla, to mediate with the center. “The families are afraid,” says the lawyer, which is why they have turned to her to speak on behalf of the affected group. “We are going to continue making noise,” she says.
After a collection of signatures against this veto that was delivered to the center's management - and that the school itself denies that there are more than 500 signatures - the parents ask that a vote be opened to decide which would be the ideal uniform for their children. daughters or for the students themselves to decide how they want to dress at school. “It is a general feeling,” explains the spokesperson, “it is not just six families” that disagree with the new norm, as the educational center argues, “it is a majority” that goes beyond the people affected in the first place. Ultimately, it is an objection “from the majority of school parents.”
The complaint promises to exceed the territorial limits of Granada and become a debate that affects all charter schools where pants are being implemented as a regulated uniform. “I have received calls from Bilbao and Madrid from families who are not satisfied with the measure” and who warn “that they are going to move” also in their cities.
Just one piece of information. Girls in higher grades who can choose between wearing one garment or another to attend class mostly opt for the traditional skirt. This is stated by Santolalla, who emphasizes this detail so that the center opens the consultation requested by the parents. Furthermore, she has advanced, yesterday they sent a burofax to the Sister Superior of the congregation to inform her of the parents' position and her requests.
Meanwhile, the Sagrada Familia of Granada insists: “the change in the uniformity of the school is a responsibility of the ownership” that decided “jointly” to carry it out in all its centers, although each of them has a calendar according to your needs. The modification, on the other hand, is protected by the Education Law and in accordance with a Resolution of the European Parliament of March 2013 which advocates the eradication of stereotypes, something that parents, who are aware of the power of education, do not question. directive. However, families do not understand what stereotypes they are talking about, and they insist that Europe made a series of recommendations, not an imposition. “The parliamentarians do not all wear ties, there are also those who wear skirts,” says the spokesperson.
The center, for now, continues to stand firm with its decision, and considers that the pants provide "comfort" in the girls' daily lives and "remove stereotypes." But he wants to put an end to a controversy that he believes is “causing damage to the center's public image.” Thus, it warns that appropriate legal measures will be taken if “false” information continues to be spread.
“I convey the opinion of the affected parents and there is nothing reportable in them,” Santolalla insists, “we are going to continue making noise” until, at least, “we are heard.”
