Piacenza, school services: farewell to Auser volunteers and the costs pass from the Municipality to the families

In Piacenza families with children at school must prepare to open their wallets. “Dear parents: the before-school and after-school service will no longer be organized by the Municipality through the voluntary association Auser“. Thus begins the letter sent by the 7th Circle Educational Directorate of the Emilian capital. The letter, signed by the manager, Professor Antonino Furnari, explains that “starting from September 2024, our school would like to activate a new before-school and after-school service to support families and guarantee greater flexibility in school timetables. The service will be requested from local associations (cultural, sporting or third sector educational bodies)”.

More costs for families

Then it is specified that “this service will be paid by the families; from the first information we have, the costs would be around 25-30 euros per month for each of the two services”. After having indicated the pre-school hours for Plessi Pezzani – XXV Aprile (7.30-8.30) and after-school (16.30-17.30 for the first and 16-17 for the second), under “Registration and Costs” explains to parents that a one-off payment of 10 euros will also be necessary to register for each of the two services. And the amount of “25-30 euros per single service to be defined after identification of the supplier” of the same is reiterated; confirmed at “around 50 euros per month” if you opt for the combined service (before + after school).

Groups of 20 children

These services, continues the letter sent to parents, “are designed to offer concrete support to families, while ensuring a stimulating and safe environment for our students. We hope these new services will meet your needs and improve the quality of time your children spend at school.”

In the endbefore indicating the references to contact “for further details, information, clarifications or to discuss specific needs”, we remind you that “the minimum number of the group will be 20 children” and that “once your interest has been acquired, the school will proceed with requests for quotes from the dedicated bodies and families will be promptly informed of the costs and invited to register”.

The first outcry

Naturally the news did not cheer the awakening of many families who received the letter from the teaching management of the 7th Circolo of Piacenza. And to give voice to discontent with the choice of the Administration led by the PD mayor Katia Tarasconi to cut the Auser service, first is Sara Soresi, group leader of the Brothers of Italy in the city council.

In a statement the FdI representative writes: “I learned from some parents, who were incredulous and sincerely angry, about the definitive cut in the Auser service for before-school and after-school. In fact, starting from September, we read in the communication sent to parents, ‘the service will be paid for by the families'”.

For Soresi “The Administration has therefore definitively decided to cut the costs of the Auser service, despite the councillor Crows, not even a month ago, had publicly announced the resumption of the suspended services. Once again this Administration knowingly decides not only not to help families (the firm no to a question of mine in which I asked for the recognition of a voucher for the many families excluded from the rankings for entry to nursery schools dates back to a few months ago) but even to burden them with further costs.

Cut the Auser service, concludes Soresi, “represents a senseless choice, which goes totally against the interest of the entire community: saving on pensioners and families – on the one hand – and squandering on the superfluous – on the other – is an indication not only of poor far-sighted but of total interest and respect for all citizens”.

For Luca Zandonellaleader of the League in the City Council, “the wicked choices of the Tarasconi administration regarding the cut of the Auser elderly have repercussions on the citizens: reading that, starting from the new school year, the before and after school service will be paid for by the families – around 30 euros a month – it leaves you amazed.”

Be amazedhe writes in a note, “because the Tarasconi administration has a mountain of resources at its disposal to manage, thanks to the choices made in these two years of mandate, such as deciding to increase the municipal income tax, how to make access to practices for professionals, such as increasing the costs of access to various municipal services, for example entry to swimming pools”.

Second Zandonella, “the municipal budget is prosperous and the Tarasconi council decides to cut the expense reimbursements of the elderly people of Piacenza in the Auser: an absolute shame that must be remedied by retracing one’s steps. In a difficult historical period, the costs borne by families are further increasing: is this the sensitivity of the left at the helm of the city? Changing your mind is a sign of intelligence: will the Tarasconi administration be able to do it?”