Thread by @ifyoutickleus

🧵EPIC epic win for Stamford Hill girls & parents - Years of scheming at Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School finally hit the buffers as voluntary aided YHS ordered by the Schools Adjudicator to increase Published Admission Number (PAN) by TEN new places gov.uk/government/pub…

The significance of this decision cannot be overstated and so long that there aren't more than 80 applicants EVERY SINGLE APPLICANT will get in. While there have been 80 girls in the past this is generally not the case. 2/

For September 2022 there were 76 applicants and only 70 offers so 6 girls rejected. At least 1 girl had to go through the stress of an appeal which was successful. 2021 had 80 applicants for 65 places but only 72 offers and 8 girls rejected, some spending year out of school 3/

The Adjudicator has now seen through the web of lies and found that a PAN of under 80 is UNREASONABLE. And what a web it was. YHS is a school built with millions of taxpayers' money for capacity PAN of 90. It then added a building to give it capacity of 105
4/

But it constantly chipped away at those number to keep Stamford Hill Charedi girls OUT. First it added a private fee-paying sem in the publicly funded building which the minutes show was with the express intention "to solve the problem of over-capacity in the school building" 5/

When that didn't reduce the numbers enough they created 2 fictitious year groups with total capacity of 130 places to reduce PAN from 105 to 65(!) despite that those 2 year groups NEVER operated. Again they clearly stated how the school was "operating at well below PAN" 6/

As 2020 & 2021 admissions show, the way it worked was that with a low PAN of 65 they could reject everyone above that number and then find a way to admit those they wanted. For e.g. when YHS favourites appealed the appeal wasn't contested and so those got in by default 7/

But when those fictitious year groups closed they increased the PAN by FIVE places only. Do the sums yourself: 2 fictitious year groups totalling 130 places removed but only 25 places added (5 places per year over 5 years)! But now the Adjudicator has ruled enough is enough. 8/

The YHS lies have been shot through and the barricaded gates busted open. Whoever applies up to the magic number of EIGHTY - WILL BE ACCEPTED. Because as the Adjudicator put it - "THERE IS CAPACITY AT THE SCHOOL" (my caps) 9/

"As far as the physical capacity of the school is concerned, I am in no doubt that there is room for more girls to be admitted than will be the case if the Year 7 PAN remains at 70".
10/

And as for YHS sob stories of being at capacity and poor overworked teachers: "The school is by no means unique in wishing its accommodation were different, or in having budgetary difficulties or staff who feel that they are working under pressure" 11/

As you'd expect YHS fought tooth and nail to resist this. They even had the chutzpe to argue that the "adjudicator had no jurisdiction" to rule on the issue. But thankfully this was given short shrift. 12/

YHS then argued that the school hall - that seats 400 adults for a wedding dinner + dancing space - can hold max. 350 teenage girls davening with a siddur. Who knows, maybe YHS girls shokel very hard. And they forgot that same hall held 800+ girls for anti-technology talk 13/

If only fibbing and rejecting girls was treated with the same seriousness as smartphones! YHS also argued that the adjacent sem building (circled in green) which sits cheek by jowl with main school building is a "separate building" and so can't be counted for capacity. 14/

But the Adjudicator saw through that one easily. And there's even a cherry on the cake - The Adjudicator also found that Torah Learning and online social media are 'private' activities and so can be self-certified and don't need to be certified by UOHC Rabbinate. 15/

So if you say you have a shiur and you're not online that's it and YHS can't go snooping on you at your shul's Daf Hayomi shiur or - Lehavdil of course - on facebook and insta.
HUGE DAY FOR GIRL AND PARENT POWER!!! 16/

But sad moral of this and other stories: Just like only non-Charedi civil judge can rule on alleged Charedi abuser, so it is if you want a place for Charedi kids at Charedi schools. Don't bother with Charedi rabbonim & arsekonim - head straight for non Charedim. They will help //