Beit Shvidler withdraws new entry rules plan after parental protest

Under current admissions rules, priority is given to children of families who “regularly attend and participate at EAYC”.

But according to changes proposed in a consultation document, to secure priority for their children men would have to attend services at EAYC at least six times a week in the two years priority to application.

Women would be expected to attend an EAYC children’s service with their children “on average once a week, where possible”.

The consultation document also prescribed in more detail the level of observance applicant families would be expected to follow.

Currently, priority is given to those who “practise Orthodox Judaism” as determined by the rabbinic heads of the Jewish Secondary School Movement (the trustee body for the Hasmonean schools).

According to the consultation, priority would go to those who “strictly observe” Shabbat and Yom Tov in line with the Code of Jewish Law.

Men would be expected to wear a kippah in public and women “tops with appropriate sleeves that extend to the elbow with necklines no lower than two inches below the collarbone, and skirts or dresses that reach the knee. Leggings, cycling shorts, gym shorts, and similarly tight or revealing garments (which trace the shape of the body) are not acceptable.”

The parent of one pupil at the school said, “Pretty much every parent I know is outraged by this move. If you’re not a member of Edgware Adath you feel like you and your kids are second class – and are only good enough to pay the exorbitant voluntary contributions.”

Another parent said the proposed policy was “an attempt to lurch to the right’. The “vast majority” of children at the school did not go to the EAYC, he said.

In his letter to parents, Lewis said the aim behind the changes had been to “make a fairer, clearer and more transparent admissions process”, which “could not be used unfairly by those who may be better positioned to navigate it, so that every family has the same starting point. The aim was to even the playing field.”

However, he said, “the way the consultation was shared did not express this intent clearly (if at all). It created a lot of anxiety instead of reassurance and clarity. I’m horrified by the fact that that some families (many who are my friends) felt offended and slighted by its wording.”

The consultation has now been withdrawn.

Lewis told the JC this week that the consultation had been launched “to explore clearer admissions criteria, but after listening to feedback and recognising the perception was the opposite of the intent, the governing body withdrew it in full.”

Beit Shvidler, he said, was “oversubscribed, reflecting strong demand for our excellent kodesh [Jewish studies] and chol [secular] education.”

Its “longstanding relationship with Edgware Adath Yisroel Congregation is foundational and comparable to links between other Jewish schools and their founding communities,” he explained.

“Our voluntary contributions are genuinely voluntary and, in line with similar schools, are set at a comparable level, while being significantly subsidised by generous grants and community funders. Delivering a kodesh curriculum that accounts for around 40 per cent of teaching time, inevitably carries additional cost.

“Voluntary contributions are not a condition of admission, and all children are treated equally regardless of a family’s ability to contribute.”

He said he did not recognise the claim that non-EAYC children were treated as second-class as “bearing any resemblance to the reality on the ground – every pupil and family is treated equally.”