The Municipalidad de La Florida (the local government of La Florida, a comuna, or municipality, in Santiago) and its municipal corporation suspended classes on Wednesday, October 21, at all municipal schools and early childhood education centers. The decision contradicts the announcement by the Ministerio de Educación (Mineduc), which ordered activities to resume in the Región Metropolitana (the Santiago Metropolitan Region).
According to La Tercera, Mayor Daniel Reyes justified the measure on the grounds that the region remains under a red alert due to the frontal system affecting the south-central part of the country. "Over the next few hours, we even expect a second, very intense pulse of rain", he said.
The government had suspended classes in Santiago on Tuesday. That same day, the Mineduc announced that academic activities would return to normal on Wednesday, even though the red alert remained in effect.
Overnight, Claudio Alvarado, who serves as both Minister of the Interior and Minister of the Secretaría General de Gobierno (Segegob, the government's communications ministry), confirmed that school activity would be normal, except at schools that considered themselves unable to receive students.
Reyes questioned that decision and asked the ministry to reconsider the return to classes in the rest of the region. "We are in an absolutely exceptional situation", the mayor said.
The suspension covers 26 schools, including the Escuela de Párvulos Samorito, the Liceo Bicentenario de Excelencia Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, the Liceo Indira Gandhi, the Complejo Educacional Marcela Paz, the Colegio Sótero del Río and the Liceo Polivalente Municipal. The La Tercera report also mentions kindergartens, although the municipal list includes only one early childhood school.
Despite the closure, the meal service will continue for students who need it. According to information released by the municipality and reported by CNN Chile, each school will coordinate the distribution.
The mayor extended the call to the operators of private fee-paying and state-subsidized private schools to consider suspending their classes on Wednesday. He acknowledged that the municipality has no authority to require them to do so.
As of publication, the Mineduc had not responded to Reyes' request. Its instruction remains in effect for the rest of the schools in the Región Metropolitana.
