The start of the January school year was cut short for several hundred students in the Charente region. In Cognac, the Claude-Boucher middle school had to close its doors on the very first day back, forcing all students to return home. The cause was a heating failure that occurred overnight, rendering the premises unusable in the midst of a cold winter spell. The situation also affected Ruffec, where the boarding school at the vocational high school was unable to accommodate students under normal conditions, forcing the teaching staff to urgently revise their planned arrangements. At the Claude-Boucher middle school, located in the Crouin district, the approximately 400 students were informed of the suspension of classes that morning. The school, facing a major technical failure in its heating system, was no longer able to ensure a safe environment. The indoor temperatures, deemed too low, led the administration to make the decision to send the students home, in consultation with the departmental services. This unexpected closure prompted a rapid reorganization for families, many of whom had to adapt to this shortened start to the school year. The breakdown, identified as a malfunction in the central heating system, highlighted the vulnerability of some school facilities to weather conditions. Despite checks carried out before classes resumed, the system could not withstand the sudden drop in temperatures. Technical services were mobilized to precisely diagnose the source of the problem and undertake the necessary repairs as quickly as possible.
Boarding schools and colleges struggling in the face of the cold
In Ruffec, the situation was no easier for the students in the vocational high school's boarding school. There too, a heating failure disrupted the normal operation of the school. While classes were able to be partially maintained, accommodating the boarders proved impossible under acceptable conditions. School officials prioritized the safety and well-being of the students, opting for temporary solutions while awaiting a return to normal. These incidents are not isolated. In other French towns, schools experienced similar difficulties during this winter break. In Champigneulles, in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department, a middle school also had to send its students home after a boiler failure was detected on the very first day of the school year. According to information provided by the administration, several technical alerts had already been recorded during the Christmas holidays, but these failed to prevent the complete shutdown of the heating system. The situation worsened when a radiator broke down in the early hours of the morning, causing a rapid drop in temperature in the classrooms. In this context, the students were briefly welcomed before their parents were contacted to pick them up. Additional maintenance work stabilized the system, allowing classes to resume the following day.
