Overview

• An open letter delivered July 11 by 160 personalities and 30 organizations urges French authorities to block the Académie Saint-Louis, a Catholic boarding school in Sologne sponsored by billionaire Pierre-Édouard Stérin.
• Signatories include former education minister Benoît Hamon, ex-presidential candidate Fabien Roussel and CGT leader Sophie Binet.
• Opponents contend the academy’s charter omits any reference to laïcité or freedom of conscience and guarantees an ideological indoctrination risk.
• The letter invokes a 1995 inspection report on Notre-Dame de Bétharram to warn against violent supervision practices in similar boarding schools.
• Under law the rector, prefect and public prosecutor have until mid-October to decide whether to oppose the school’s planned September 2025 opening.