Union delegation releases 18 de Marzo Institute and classes begin on Monday

Following the blockade by parents yesterday afternoon, the Undersecretary of Education of La Laguna de Durango announced that the facilities of the 18 de Marzo Institute in Gómez Palacio have been cleared, so the 2025-2026 school year will begin next Monday, September 8, for 2,150 middle and high school students. This morning, the municipal government supported them with the cleaning of the school; inside, machinery was observed removing weeds and a truck was inspecting the lighting.

Fernando Ulises Adame de León, head of the department, admitted that the institution is a source of pride for the region, but that due to disagreements between internal political groups and the administration, academic quality has deteriorated. He said that some parents expressed their desire to withdraw their children from the institute, but that they asked for an opportunity to review and adjust the situation.

He mentioned that they respectfully requested the school be reopened and that they would meet today with the D-II-11 delegation of Section 44 of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE), the parents, and the city council, through municipal trustee Juan Francisco González Díaz. He reported that principal Jesús Orozco Rodríguez would not be present.

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Parents block roads to demand the school be released and classes begin.

“ Today, the school is being cleaned up and classes will resume on Monday. Today, we will listen to the repeated demands regarding the administration's reshuffle. Therefore, we are calling the state leader of Section 44, Professor Efrén, next Monday morning, or asking the Undersecretary of Education, Francisco Ibarra, who is responsible for the administration or management of Section 18 and the political groups, to join us. We cannot continue to hold the institution hostage ,” he commented.

The official insisted that the Institute's Organic Law, which was first created in 1940 and reformed in 1980, 45 years ago, will also be reconsidered.

" It's completely obsolete. There's talk of fees or support from the State in the range of 5,000 pesos a month. It's totally irrelevant. We're going to request an update to the Organic Law, and we want to get everyone in line ," he said.

This afternoon, at the end of the meeting, Aurora del Carmen Zubiría Cabello, general secretary of the D-II-2 delegation, commented that they had reached an agreement and that educational services would resume on Monday.

"The classrooms are already opening to receive students, and they're already assuring us that Orozco, nor any of his staff, hasn't set foot in the Institute, which is also causing some instability here. They have to give us an official response within three weeks with what we're asking for. If not, as they say, 'let the people and the workers demand it,'" he emphasized.

He explained that during those three weeks, they will be working with the remaining authorities, such as the academic coordinators. "We trust the response will be favorable because this situation, when it involves parents, is beyond the realm of possibility. It would be foolish of them to ignore the parents' request and return to the same old story. We want it to be heard that we are confident; we trust that the authorities will not retaliate against all the participants here. Even the parents asked for zero retaliation against us. Teamwork always bears greater fruit," he indicated.

As you may recall, the union delegation's work stoppage began last week, preventing the student community from starting the school year last Monday, September 1, as established by the federal Ministry of Public Education (SEP) calendar.

ALSO READ: Parents block roads to demand the start of classes in Gómez Palacio

The delegation demanded Orozco's dismissal for alleged financial mismanagement, gender discrimination, nepotism, failure to convene a faculty meeting as required by the Institute's Organic Law, and deficiencies in the school's physical infrastructure. The director, meanwhile, claims the delegate lacks the support of the delegation committee and that the school takeover was carried out because she belongs to a political group (Morena) at the night high school. This is in revenge for the dismissal of assistant principal Erick Arzola Sarabia months earlier for campaigning inside the school. The school was released from custody when parents gathered yesterday outside the school and held several blockades to demand the return of classes.