New School Year Rule Could Force Students to Switch Schools

Back-to-school time is always stressful for both parents and children. However, being expelled from school during the year is even more distressing. Suddenly, a student loses all familiar surroundings: no more friends around, no teachers whose methods are known, and the need to fit into a new environment while carrying the guilty burden of being expelled.

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Previously, a mid-year school change was generally due to disciplinary actions against the student, such as a disciplinary hearing, or because of a family relocation. But the rules have changed: Decree No. 2026-687, issued on July 28th and published in the Official Journal, now allows school heads and principals to “enroll the student in a new school or establishment” starting this September.

What’s new here is the reason for this measure: a student can now be forced to change schools due to the poor behavior of their parents or a family member. The official text specifies that “the decree aims to allow school directors and heads to address actions or behaviors that pose a characterized risk to the safety or health of a member of the educational community or seriously compromise the conduct of teaching activities or the normal operation of the school or establishment, resulting from the behavior of a family member of a student related to the student’s schooling.”

In practical terms, when such a situation arises, the process begins with the school director or head notifying the Academic Director of National Education Services (DASEN). After a mandatory dialogue with the parents and a possible provisional suspension of up to five days, the DASEN may decide to transfer the student: to another school in the municipality (with the mayor’s agreement) for elementary students, or directly to another middle/high school. To minimize the impact on the young person, the law provides for “enhanced educational, pedagogical, and social support until the end of the school year.”

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Despite this support, the measure has raised considerable concerns among parent-teacher associations, such as the FCPE, which criticize the principle of making a child suffer the consequences of their parents’ actions and fear the psychological impact of breaking their social and educational ties.