Back to school 2023 in Marseille: In La Cayolle, parents do not want to let “the drug dealers win”

REPORT This summer, four people were victims of shootings in the immediate vicinity of a school in La Cayolle, an otherwise quiet district of Marseille that the violence of drug trafficking no longer spares

This Monday, police officers patrolled and ensured the arrival of parents, children and teachers in front of a school in the La Cayolle district, in Marseille, while a narcotics point was there. is rife in front of the establishment. — Alexandre Vella

• The La Cayolle district, in the 9th arrondissement of Marseille, is an usually peaceful corner in the south of the city, located at the foot of the Calanques. But since this summer, this neighborhood has no longer been spared from the settling of scores between drug traffickers who have claimed four victims there, including three in the last fortnight of August.
• With a stup point' in front of the school and several shootings, parents and teachers demanded strong action for the start of the school year.
• This Monday, around ten police officers patrolled and ensured the arrival of parents, children and teachers. Representatives of the prefecture, the rectorate and the sector town hall were on site. “Obviously, these patrols reassure us,” parents explained to 20 Minutes.

The school bags are packed, the children are more or less ready, and Julie, the director of the Calanques de Sormiou school group, a school located in the 9th arrondissement of Marseille, is “excited”. belly » on this back-to-school day. A healthy stomach lump common to everyone all teachers – and their students – who are preparing to launch into a new school year. But In La Cayolle, there was something extra this Monday morning: police crews were patrolling and ensuring the arrival of parents, children and teachers. Representatives of the prefecture, the rectorate and the sector town hall were on site. A visibly welcome presence after the four shootings this summer. who, in this usually peaceful Marseille district, left two people dead and three injured, including two 14-year-old teenagers.

“The children ask us questions”

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“Obviously, these patrols reassure us”, appreciates Mathias* who accompanies his two children aged 4 and 10. Having lived in the neighborhood for five years, this parent finds that “the situation has suddenly deteriorated”: “before,” He remained relatively cordial with the dealers even if they were in front of the school. But From mid-August onwards, shootings became regular. We could hear very well, it crackled every two or three days. The children ask us questions. We try to explain but also to protect them. »

La Cayolle, ideally located in La Cayolle. at the foot of the Calanques, not far from the Prado beaches, nothing like the ghettos. The buildings, only four stories high, are clean. The play areas – football field with artificial turf, basketball court, bowling alley – are in good condition. The deal point is not marked. about a hundred meters away advance. Chairs, sofas and braziers have not invaded the area. In short, we are far from the worst that Marseille can offer, especially in its northern districts.

But on August 22, a 14-year-old child was killed. injured. An electric shock. Psychological support was provided. proposed to residents reinforcement of posters stuck on the doors. Some have started à to mobilize as the start of the school year loomed. « Colleagues threatened “to make use of their right of withdrawal if there was no security system”, rewinds Charlotte Bourgougnou, FSU-SNUipp delegate for whom “the” academy mie has fully understood the problem ». “The police are a first response but cannot be the only one. Colleagues made requests for adjustments, in particular to install opaque walls, the place of the current grid,” reports the unionist. FSU-SNUipp also requests that this school be considered a REP. « With a poverty index If it is 60, it should be, but as it is located in a rich area, it is not eligible. Dasen (academic director of national education services) came on Friday and said that he could grant additional resources and perhaps the doubling of classes, adds Charlotte Bourgougnou.

« It's in the evening that çthis mostly happens»

This Monday morning, parents, students and teachers had the right to an information point on the measures taken. Or a reinforced police presence at any time. when entering and leaving school, but also during recess or lunch break. A work launched from last August 28, date to date which held an extraordinary board of directors of the committee neighborhood interest. The educational team from the Calanques de Sormiou school group, representatives of the national police and the municipal police, the rectorate as well as sector elected officials and the central town hall were around the table.

This Monday morning, with the hundred or so schoolchildren sitting comfortably in their new classes, the neighborhood continued with its life. A clear September sun overflowed from the Calanques massif. Two cats were lounging on the asphalt facing the skyline. large stones installed to close the street running along the playground at the end of the building. the circulation. These same stones at the feet of which a young man died on August 13, according to a resident of the neighborhood. “We wouldn’t believe it, eh, when we see how peaceful it is during the day. It’s in the evening that “it mostly happens,” comments Meriem. This neighborhood mediator is also happy to see uniforms: “the police have made a difference and I hope that it will calm down.”

All about the 2023 school year

In La Cayolle, residents admit to having learned to live with fear. “ We always look to the future. right, to the right left,” sighs Fatima, having come to drop off one of her two children – the first is still in a stroller. “We won’t move, otherwise it is them (the dealers) who will have won,” concludes Mathias. “Back to school ? A normal return to school, says a local merchant. We're not going to let ourselves be taken hostage! »