Press Release, August 22, 2013
Candidate for Moscow Mayor Sergei Mitrokhin sent an appeal to the Investigative Committee demanding to make an inspection and bring a criminal case against the forcible merger of schools No 363 and No 1294 in the Bogorodskoye district. Mitrokhin held a public inspection of these educational institutions together with the teachers and parents today.

Mitrokhin couldn’t talk to the teachers of school No 363 at first as the school principal locked them in the school building. The police put a cordon around the school building. The security guards blocked not only the entrance, but the gate of the fence as well.
According to the parents, the decision on the merger of the schools was taken after the principal of school No 1294 Ludmila Salonina was transferred to the same position at school No 363 in November, 2012. Salonina disbanded a legitimate Governing council of the school without a warning and appointed a new council of a close circle of her associates. The Department of Education of the Eastern Administrative District approved of the new council. The decision on the merger of the two schools was taken.

the entrance

Ludmila Salonina

The parent and teachers are categorically against the merger of the schools. As it turned out, the temporary acting principal of school No 1294 Olga Alexandrova is also against the merger. “The Governing council of our school didn’t take this decision”, she said to the YABLOKO leader.
According to Mitrokhin, it’s a typical situation for Moscow. One directorate in several schools will allow to cut down the expenses. “This way Sobyanin wants to save on the school financing. In our case  the bait was made by the Department of Education headed by Isaak Kalina; after the merging of the two schools principal Solinina’s salary will be increased”.

Only an hour after the inspection began its participants managed to talk to principal Salonina. She said that the issue of  the merging of the schools was not on the agenda and left.  She refused to answer her collages’ questions.

Sergei Mitrokhin said that the results of the inspection were positive: the decision to hold a meeting of the old legitimate Governing council was taken. YABLOKO leader took the situation under his control. We will send an appeal to the Investigative Committee demanding to investigate the machinations with the re-election of the Governing council of school No 363 and investigate the legitimacy of the decision on the merger of the two schools.