France closes 400 high schools and orders parents to pay for protest damages

Widespread closures and unrest

French authorities ordered more than 400 high schools across the country to switch to remote learning on Friday following days of student demonstrations and blockades. Education Minister Édouard Geffray announced that regional prefects mandated the shutdowns because fire safety equipment had been destroyed and school employees were deliberately targeted. Prefects also imposed demonstration bans around all affected campuses, including specific gathering bans outside 13 high schools in Paris. Street disturbances continued on Friday morning, requiring Paris firefighters to extinguish flames set at the entrance gate of Lycée Léonard de Vinci in the 15th arrondissement. Outside Paris and its adjacent suburbs, police authorities logged roughly 140 separate protest actions and about 50 detentions on Friday morning alone.

Legal directives on parental liability

With approximately 2,000 people taken into police custody since the start of the movement, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin instructed public prosecutors to invoke the civil liability of parents systematically. Official data shows that minors make up 90% of those placed in custody, with one-third of all arrests involving violence against individuals. Under Article 1242 of the French Civil Code, parents face strict financial liability for harm caused by their minor children, while standard insurance coverage frequently excludes intentional acts of vandalism. Appearing on RTL, Darmanin stated the government's position on recovering repair costs.

It is not the minor who pays, it is the parents.

In Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, regional authorities have begun analyzing social media videos, CCTV tapes, and inside footage alongside police investigators to identify individuals responsible for property damage. Special regional advisor Laurent Wauquiez also proposed cancelling regional welfare benefits for offenders and their families, including subsidized canteen rates, transport passes, and the Pass-Région program.

Casualties and regional damage assessments

The protests have resulted in numerous injuries among law enforcement officers, educators, and secondary school pupils across the country. Government figures record 300 police officers and gendarmes injured, along with 170 students and 65 school personnel, including 40 school directors and over 60 assaulted teachers. In the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, where 93 out of slightly more than 300 high schools were forced to close on Friday, regional president Fabrice Pannekoucke assessed the destruction between €25 million and €30 million. Pannekoucke pointed to damaged school buildings, attacked vehicles, and vandalism at Saint-Étienne's Lycée Honoré-d'Urfé, a facility that recently completed a €55 million renovation.

Every euro of damage must become a euro of penalty. The taxpayer cannot be called upon for events like these.

Political reactions and student demands

In the Grand Est region, regional council president Franck Leroy estimated local damages at approximately €1 million. While Leroy recognized pupil complaints regarding transport, heavy schedules, and the Parcoursup university application system, he rejected destructive methods.

Nothing justifies such violence.

The wave of protests began the previous week at Lycée Saint-Exupéry in Créteil before spreading to university campuses, driven by anger over deteriorated school infrastructure and persistent staffing shortages. In Bordeaux, local damage was estimated in the hundreds of thousands of euros. Following warnings from Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez about worsening unrest, Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste and Geffray accused the left-wing party La France Insoumise of inciting students to blockade facilities. Geffray scheduled formal meetings on Friday with student unions, parent associations, staff trade unions, and delegates from the National Council of High School Life.