Last update - 00:00 29/05/2007
Court: State must protect Gaza-area schools by next school year
By Haaretz Service
The High Court of Justice ordered the state on Tuesday to fully protect all the classrooms in schools in Sderot and in the communities surrounding the Gaza Strip until the start of the next school year.
On Sunday, the Sderot Municipality had asked the Education Ministry for approval to terminate the current school year immediately because of the security situation.
In their ruling, the justices rejected the state's claim that the series of shelters and reinforced buildings known as "protected areas" properly safeguarded residents from Qassam rocket fire, at a minimal cost.
The justices maintained that the high cost of proper protection is justified, and that the state's claim of their supposed "protected areas" are unreasonable. The court did not address the issue of protecting kindergartens and nursery schools, because the state promised to complete their reinforcement by next year.
Pinchas Buchris, director-general of the Defense Ministry, said at the start of the week that each month 200 shelters will be built in Sderot, until the entire town is equipped with enough reinforced buildings. Buchris said that the state would allocate NIS 22 million each month for the protection.