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4 Teves 5768 - December 13, 2007 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Haifa Municipality Refuses to Allocate Abandoned School Building to Netivot Moshe

By Yechiel Sever

Legal rights organization Betzedek filed a High Court petition claiming that the City of Haifa is not allocating facilities for Chinuch Atzmai school Netivot Moshe in Kiryat Chaim based on nonmaterial considerations.

The affair began when, based on a demand by Betzedek, the municipality went through the school building allocations procedure for Netivot Moshe, but decided to refuse the school's request. Betzedek and Netivot Moshe responded by filing an administrative petition.

A large public school called Netivot stands empty in the Kiryat Chaim neighborhood, after it was closed due to low enrollment. Netivot Moshe is located nearby in a rented building. The building is too small for the school, so the administration has to rent nearby apartments for use as office space.

Netivot Moshe submitted a request for a building, but the municipality refused, claiming that the school fails to meet criteria set by the municipality. The Netivot Moshe administration contacted Betzedek Director Atty. Rabbi Mordechai Green to assist with the petition. Betzedek argued that the building has been deserted for over five years and is a magnet for unsavory characters who damage the building and harm the entire neighborhood, while nearby at Netivot Moshe 300 students study in cramped conditions.

The petitioners claimed after Netivot Moshe submitted the request for a building, the City of Haifa deliberately changed the allocations criteria, tightening them in a way that would lessen the school's chances of receiving a building allocation.

They also claimed that no other request for this building has been submitted and that the municipality is trying to reduce enrollment at Netivot Moshe.

The petition also rejects the municipality's claim that it plans to increase the size of the neighborhood, at which time it would again need the school building. The petitioners countered that it would be at least five years before the neighborhood is expanded, which is the duration of the current allocation request.

 

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