First graders, welcome: the new school in Shevely is ready to accept "rejected" seven-year-olds.

      On Tuesday, July 22, parents of first-graders learned from a letter signed by the school principal that a decision had been made to open an additional first-grade class at School No. 28 (a teacher has been found). All parents who had previously been refused admission for their children "due to lack of space" are invited to a general meeting scheduled for the end of this month.

      "We are very grateful to the Publishing House for informing the whole city about our trouble. And we believe that your publication prompted officials to take action, as for the past three months they had only been sending dismissive replies—'no spaces.' They openly ignored the law guaranteeing children education "at their place of residence." The district prosecutor’s office paid no attention to this, which possibly did not make efforts to review our complaints, even those forwarded from the General Prosecutor’s Office," said the parents of the first-graders.

      As previously reported, the prosecutor’s office, disregarding federal and local laws requiring school leadership to prioritize children "by place of residence," abstained from investigations. Although the capacity of School No. 28 is 1,606 places, and operating in two shifts, it can accommodate 2,200–2,400 students simultaneously. However, only about 1,200 students were admitted there.

      They shared "secrets" with Newsler.ru that the real reason for the refusals is "a total shortage of teachers," which is unlikely to serve as an "objective excuse" for failing to comply with the law. According to a regional Ministry of Education employee, the previous publication could not help but provoke an "almost instant reaction" from the local government, since the story about the "rejected first-graders" was merely "a mosquito's buzz." However, all the attention of political circles was focused on a phrase from the previous article: “Incidentally, according to sources from the 'gray house,' as parents of the refused first-graders repeatedly mentioned, at least two children probably 'attended school through favoritism' — most likely the governor's son and the child of a regional minister. And if two children were possibly admitted due to 'a politically undeniable privilege,' then who received the remaining 98 places (out of 156 applications)?”

      Therefore, opening an additional class is nothing more than a "strategic move":

      "I think Sokolov was afraid of a scandal revealing that the governor's son, without registration, illegally got a place. So, not only was a larger resonance suppressed, but also a positive gesture was received from parents, who ultimately are grateful to the authorities and personally to Aleksandr Valentinovich," said a regional Ministry of Education employee.