Amid Ñuñoa's struggle to prevent schools from being handed over to SLEP, Augusto D’Halmar High School mobilizes for better conditions

It has been Mayor Sebastián Sichel's great crusade in education: not to transfer the Ñuñoa schools to SLEP La Quebrada, arguing that municipalities with schools that have good results should continue to be their supporters. "Show me why the Augusto D’Halmar High School would be better in SLEP," he said some time ago in an interview with La Tercera. And today, that very high school complicates the mayor of Ñuñoa, since its students staged a "pencil strike" this Monday, voted on last Friday. That day, with 89.1% of the votes (672 votes), the idea of the protest measure won. Within that option, a vote was also held to do it indefinitely. "We want to express our deep discontent with the stance of the school's management and the lack of recognition towards the student mobilization led by the students. We consider it essential that the opinions, demands, and decisions of the students be heard and taken into account within our educational community," reads the joint statement from the Student Center and the Course Delegates Council. In the municipality's environment, however, they note that the mobilization this Monday was limited, that there was space for classes to continue, and that there was good student attendance. In any case, the student statement already mentioned that there would be facilities for those who wanted their attendance recorded, as well as special attention to students from the School Integration Program (PIE). The students' petition The students' demands were made known at the end of July in a document addressed both to the school's management and to the Ñuñoa Social Development Corporation in its capacity as the school's supporter "in order to request the adoption of concrete measures regarding various situations affecting the proper functioning of the establishment, the safety of its members, and the necessary conditions for the development of the educational process." Some, they say, are repeated or have persisted over time. On one hand, there are requests to the corporation. The first of these aims at repairing leaks and flooding in the Language pavilion. "They constitute a structural problem that has persisted for a prolonged period, directly affecting the normal development of academic activities and safety conditions within the establishment," it reads, noting that educational regulations establish that supporters must ensure that educational establishments operate under adequate conditions. The second demand is the assessment and repair of the entire electrical network of the establishment. According to students, during 2026, repeated deficiencies have been observed despite renovation work, with recurrent interruptions of the supply. Meanwhile, the school's management demands, among other things, accountability and active transparency "to strengthen trust between the educational community and the school's administration"; guarantee respectful institutional treatment towards students and their representatives; improve bathrooms and changing rooms due to "various deficiencies" (leaks, flooding, holes, among others) related to infrastructure, safety, hygiene, and operation conditions; or improve common spaces and infrastructure of the establishment due to leaks or infiltrations; improve and acquire materials for workshops. In this petition, students had set a deadline of five days to respond, and based on that response, they would decide what steps to take, which led to the recent strike. But before that, students had already shown signs of growing discontent. For example, amid the rains three weeks ago, on July 21, they had already issued a statement expressing their "deep concern, discontent, and worry about the current infrastructure conditions faced by our establishment due to the frontal system that has affected our country." That time, they reported that the library and four classrooms flooded. "As an educational community, we are deeply concerned that this problem is not an isolated incident but a recurring situation over several years. We consider it irresponsible that, being a known reality and considering that frontal systems and rainy periods are predictable situations in our country, no preventive measures or definitive solutions are implemented year after year to prevent these conditions from affecting our educational experience again," they elaborated. And although it is not in the petition, various members of the educational community contacted by this medium report that another longstanding unresolved problem at Augusto D’Halmar is a mouse infestation. "The students of Ñuñoa have always made us proud of their performance. Both Mayor Sichel and even President Kast capitalized on this by inaugurating the school year together in March. The mayor even said, about the transfer to SLEP, that 'someone would change a model that is working well.' The result? Leaks, a mouse infestation that forced classes to be suspended, and now an indefinite strike supported by the broad majority of students," notes councilor Andrés Argandoña (FA). The mobilization of Augusto D’Halmar students, a school that has been used as a "symbol" of good public education, occurs just as the debate has been reignited over the government's attempt to slow down SLEP transfers after presenting a bill that adjusts the transfer schedule until 2040 and makes it easier for municipalities that want to—like Ñuñoa—to remain in charge. Starting January 1, the Ñuñoa municipality must transfer its facilities to SLEP La Quebrada, and the mayor resists, as has been said, arguing that their schools will not be better with the Local Service.