In 2021, the photo of the wheelchairs sent to waste caused a sensation. The desks in question – wanted by the then minister Azzolina in the post-Covid period to keep students spaced out – were those of the Benedetti Tommaseo scientific-linguistic high school in Venice, piled up on a boat ready to be sent to waste. All new. But, according to the head teacher, they were considered uncomfortable and small for high school students and therefore remained unused.
30 thousand euros to be compensated
A decision that has now been condemned by the Court of Auditors: the principal and the administrative director in office at the time will have to compensate the school for an amount equal to 30 thousand euros, 15 thousand each.
According to reports Il Mattino di Padovathe Accounting Prosecutor’s Office had presented a bill of over 38 thousand euros, including the cost of the desks, bottles of sanitizing gel and a large quantity of surgical masks, which also ended up in waste.
According to the investigations, it was the previous head teacher, in 2020, who ordered 40 desks, which, once they arrived at school, were placed in the main hall and used only for state exams.
The prosecutor’s office: “Unjustified and irrational choice to dispose of the assets”
The management justified the choice by saying that the materials were unsuitable for use, the gel had expired and the masks were not up to standard. According to the prosecutor’s office, however, it would have been an “unjustified and irrational choice to dispose of the assets, after having left them unused for a long time without even attempting to use them, even partially”, a choice which would have caused a total loss to the treasury of 38 thousand euros. .
Violation of the rule on accounting records
Added to this is that the desks had not even been marked in the inventory, thus violating the rule on accounting records “undermining the principle of truthfulness of management documents, preventing us from having such a faithful and correct picture in the accounting data. The responsibility of both school manager, and the director of General and Administrative Services”.
Hence the sentence to pay 30 thousand euros, net of the 8 thousand euros for the non-use of the desks. The women will be able to appeal.
