Intimidation of parents who did not buy school supplies, spies on mothers' WhatsApp groups, humiliation of students, passivity in the face of numerous cases of bullying...
These are some practices reported to GRAN MADRID by several families from the San Jaime school, one of the most sought-after and requested schools in the town of Majadahonda.
«It is a school of silence and obey. Children who have problems are systematically taken out of the way,” says a teacher, who was fired for refusing to carry out certain practices.
San Jaime was a very prestigious center, known for its good teachers, its high level of English and its strict religious education. But serious accusations now weigh on him, after three families have filed a complaint for humiliating treatment.
The families also demand that the school, the former director and a teacher - neither of them is currently at the center - be investigated for an alleged crime against moral integrity, after the suicide of one of the students.
The complaint thus tarnishes the reputation of this center, which is also one of the most expensive subsidized centers in the Community of Madrid. San Jaime charges a fee of more than 300 euros per month, despite being paid for with public funds. In addition, it obtains significant income from the sale of uniforms, school supplies and sports equipment.
The school requires uniforms to be purchased at its facilities at high prices and always paid in cash. This measure contrasts with that of most private schools, which sell their equipment in large stores during much longer hours.
When years ago a business in Majadahonda tried to sell these uniforms, they were pressured by those in charge of the school to stop doing so.
San Jaime also charges a high sum for school supplies. According to the testimonies of some families, when some parents refused to pay it and preferred to buy the notebooks on their own, they were called to the office of the former director, M. A. R., who intimidated them and persuaded them to end up taking the material at school.
If the families decided to go ahead, their children were boycotted and the list of belongings was given to them at the last minute so that they did not have time to buy them.
«The coordinator told me that I had to make life impossible for the kids so that they would buy the material. But I didn't jump through the hoops and I refused to do so. "They fired me because I wouldn't keep quiet," says this teacher, who prefers to remain anonymous.
Another of the practices that this teacher censures is that they preferred to throw the mid-morning sandwiches in the trash, rather than give them to children who did not pay for the dining room. "They were leftover sandwiches, how could I deny them to a child who was hungry?" he asks.
The sports kits were also a cause of conflict. One year, the school decided to replace them with practically identical ones. A group of parents refused to buy them and opted for their children to play with the old ones.
But the center prevented the children from jumping onto the basketball court and preferred to lose the game rather than allow them to compete with the old jersey.
Many of these reproaches were expressed in the class WhatsApp groups and, on occasions, the former director called certain mothers to the office to reprimand them for the criticism expressed in private, as some affected people remember.
Most of the families' complaints were always silenced. According to the testimony of some of them, the Association of Mothers and Fathers of Students has traditionally been made up of parents related to the management of the center, who were dedicated to neutralizing any criticism.
Other mothers went to the Educational Inspection of Villalba, but their demands were never successful: «The school had some protection from the Administration. "It is not normal that with the number of complaints there were that they never paid any attention to us."
Families describe a very different reality depending on the student's profile. If the student was diligent and obedient, everything went smoothly. But, if he had a learning difficulty, suffered from ADHD or was simply different and did not fit the San Jaime mold, the problems began.
This situation led many parents to remove their children from the center due to their passivity with cases of bullying. «My son suffered quite heavy bullying. At first, they were willing to stop it, but then they did nothing. But what hurt me the most is that, at the end of the course, they gave his harasser a prize,” criticizes a mother of a former student.
Despite being a center financed with public money, the school also had no sensitivity towards children with any type of disorder: «My daughter was a brilliant student, but she had dyslexia. The teacher ridiculed her in class for making spelling mistakes. He pointed at her all day, which then gave rise to jokes from his classmates," says another mother.
Many humiliations occurred in the locker rooms, which were guarded by auxiliary staff. «My daughter called me crying with an anxiety attack because for putting on her tights under her tracksuit, the assistant made her take it off, stay in her panties, and put it back on a bunch of times. She suffered a lot and removed her eyelashes when she was 10 years old. My three children were bullied, something that was consensual,” another parent complains.
