Amid feud, Beit Shemesh school to go ultra-Orthodox

Following a media firestorm last year, an embattled Beit Shemesh school that was subdivided into separate sections for ultra-Orthodox and secular students will now become completely Haredi, after non-religious students were allocated facilities elsewhere in the city.

Last September, the Beit Shemesh Municipality forcibly installed an ultra-Orthodox elementary school onto the grounds of an existing secular elementary school, partitioning the premises into two separate academies with a dividing barrier.

The move to subdivide the academy was made due to a dearth of available classrooms for Haredi students, while the secular Safot V’Tarbuyot School — which lies in the heart of an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood, was severely under-capacity, with 144 pupils studying on grounds designed to handle over 500 students.

Following a protracted legal case in the Supreme Court between parents, the Education Ministry and the Beit Shemesh Municipality, the wall was removed and the Haredi students evicted to study in caravans outside the school grounds.

However, following months of negotiations between the two sides, it was agreed that the secular students would move to new premises, while the existing school is to become entirely Haredi, effective as of the 2015-16 academic year.

Located between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh and its changing demographics have spurred flashpoint religious divides, amid a dwindling secular population.

“The school is located in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood and the municipality wanted to close it because there was a big shortage of students,” Yaniv Fogel, a parents’ committee representative told Ynet news.

“In the end, we were able to reach an agreement because of the dialogue between the parties — and I think it’s a big achievement for a city like Beit Shemesh,” Fogel said, adding that residents were fatigued by the cycle of litigation and constant inter-faction rivalries.

Following a court-issued injunction against the ultra-Orthodox installation in September, many Haredi residents in the neighborhood around the school blamed former education minister Shai Piron for trying to stir up trouble and accused him of not understanding the severe lack of classrooms in Beit Shemesh.

Piron, however, strongly condemned the Beit Shemesh Municipality for trying to push the plan, which is strongly opposed by parents of pupils already attending the school.

“The education system will not accept violence and bullying,” he said in a statement. “Each and every child in Israel has the right to education, but the answer cannot be unilateral steps, trampling the law and ethics, sneaking into school at night to build a wall and throwing out teachers’ materials and books.”

“It’s sad for the students, both Haredi and secular,” said former MK Dov Lipman (Yesh Atid), who was a leader in the Committee to Save Beit Shemesh, a community group dedicated to advocating for rights of Beit Shemesh’s non-Haredi population, before becoming an MK.

“More than anything, this demonstrates a lack of proper planning for the school year. They should have sat down many months ago and said, ‘Look, we don’t have enough classrooms.’ They could have come to a proper resolution instead of breaking into a school in the middle of the night,” Lipman said.

“The city woke up very late in the process and did not accept options from the Education Ministry.”

The municipality had attempted to allow ultra-Orthodox students to study in the institution in 2009, but the move was barred by then-education minister Gideon Sa’ar, after parents expressed fierce opposition.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.