"It’s a political error"imbroglio around the planned closure of a reception center for classes

Thousands of young Ile-de-France residents have been frequenting this holiday center in Cancale for half a century. But following a decision by the regional council of ÃŽle-de-France, this center must close. Two summary proceedings were filed, including one by the opposition group ‘ecologist, communist and citizen left’, to prevent this closure. Explanations.

On August 1st, the Virginie Hériot sea school center should close its doors. Built in 1904 on a promontory overlooking one of the largest coves of Cancale in ÃŽle-et-Vilaine, and also known under the name of Château Brûlé, the place was bequeathed in 1920 to the French State.

With a capacity of nearly 90 beds, in 1976 following decentralization it became a permanent sea class center, receiving nearly 1,800 children per year, mainly from Île-de-France, often coming from disadvantaged places and some of whom discovered at this opportunity for the first time the sea.

The Regional Council of ÃŽle-de-France, which manages the premises, has however decided to decommission the premises, that is to say remove its use as a school, which de facto will mark the end of the reception of students.

Through its press service, the Region reminds that the places are “State property. The site being linked to the regional school of La Boissière in Yvelines, a high school for wards of the nation, owned by the region, the ÃŽle-de-France Region ensured the operation of both sites.

However, the decision by National Education to close the Boissières site in 2023 due to lack of students “terminated this operation. A period of three years was proposed so that National Education could anticipate the future of the center. The Region tried to help National Education by presenting the Sport de la Ville association which wanted to breathe new life into the center: preserve the sea classes during school periods and open the center during school holidays – which is not currently the case – to accommodate other audiences.“

For the Regional Council, the problem is above all budgetary. “The Region cannot financially support alone the cost of operating a site which does not belong to it outside of any jurisdiction“. which pushed the Regional Council to propose to the State, explains the press service to “a win-win deal by selling the site or renting it. We thus recover money, the sea classes continue and we open the site, which until now was absurdly closed four months a year, during all the school holidays for the young people forgotten during the holidays.“

This proposal, presented fifteen months ago, would not have caused “no return from National Education” Since.

Arguments that are now contested and which are now the subject of two separate summary proceedings, filed with the administrative court of Versailles.

The first summary proceedings from the association ‘United for the Virginie Hériot School’ created last November by residents of Cancale was filed on Friday May 29. An approach motivated above all by respect for the statutes according to Me André Félix, who represents the association and who contests the arguments put forward by the Region. “We are talking about an educational establishment, belonging to the State and in the public domain. The Region cannot therefore, legally speaking, decide on decommissioning itself. It is a skill that it shares with the State, in this case the prefect. And it is the latter who, ultimately, has this power and which must be seized. However, the Regional Council took it up on September 25, 2025 and it is this deliberation that will potentially lead to the closure of the site, not a decision by National Education.”

Me Félix considère que “the financial argument does not hold up. If he can justify certain decisions in normal times, he cannot do so when we talk about education.” He also extols the merits of a place “iconic and profitable, already fully booked until summer 2027“.

According to him, “the Region has a legal obligation to maintain the places for which it is responsible, such as this one, which, in addition, has a very special status as a primary regional school. The point of the maneuver is to “eliminate the public service that takes place on site. This would open the door to a decommissioning procedure, that is to say that we would remove the Château Brûlé from the public domain, which would subsequently make it possible to sell it.“

Le référé est un référé suspension, “an appeal allowing, urgently if the judge considers it justified, to suspend a decision while the case is studied on its merits and to judge the legality of the facts or not.“The hearing is scheduled for June 15.

The second referral was filed by the opposition group ‘ecologist, communist and citizen left’, whose president Céline Malaisé denounces a decision taken “on the sly, because never exposed in this way to the regional advisors in ÃŽle-de-France when the vote to launch the decommissioning procedure was launched. This is a political error because it puts an end to the essential reception of children from the Ile-de-France region, particularly for all those who live far from the sea and who never have access in normal times.“.

She then evokes an attitude “paradoxical“from President Valérie Pécresse.”When National Education announced in 2023 its desire to remove the two school teacher positions on site, it spoke up saying that this place was unique, that it needed to be preserved and that the Region was going to invest so that it continues to welcome children. So why this about-face? Especially since we are talking about an annual saving in operating costs of 250,000 euros, which seems little considering the symbol.“

Behind the scenes, some are talking about the possibility for the Brittany Region to pass the torch. Or to bring together several Ile-de-France departments to share the costs. In any case, the news caused a reaction, even to the France Inter station where the actor François Morel wrote a post on the subject on May 29, under the title ‘There are children who have never seen the sea’.