Parents in Council Against Closure. Galletto: “But Ivrea’s solution was not taken for granted”
MONTALTO DORA. During the city council last Wednesday, gathered in the council chamber, the protest of the twenty parents in Montalto Dora suddenly found themselves without the service of the nursery for their children, canceled, starting from the next school year , by the municipal administration due to lack of funds in current expenditure.
To allow for the discussion, the mayor Renzo Galletto effectively transformed the session into an open forum, anticipating the item on the agenda which provided for the approval of the resolution concerning the nursery, preparatory to the signing of the agreement with the Municipality of Ivrea, which will absorb the children of Montalto spreading them in the four nests of the city, and giving them priority.
«On the contrary – announced Galletto -. Two-year-old children who can be enrolled in the spring section of the Sant’Antonio kindergarten will pay a lower fee than the one paid in Montalto, while for the little ones we will provide supplements, obviously based on the ISEE. I also remember that it is not correct to speak of the closure of the nursery, but of a change of destination, in the logic of a widespread city that will also prove useful for other services, such as the municipal police. The only way we actually had to maintain the kindergarten in Montalto was to increase taxes, or the tuition fee for the nursery. But I have to serve the interests of the whole community ».
“We fight because it is a fundamental service – said Teresa Layla Pedrotta, representative of the parents and of the collective that was formed for the protest – for which the administration should have spent more, and above all do it by involving the parents right away. and minority forces. If the administrators in the drafting of the budget were aware of the loss of revenue of 120 thousand euros deriving from the concession fee of the quarry, which closed, other options could be evaluated, even of a temporary nature pending the funds that should then arrive from Resilience plan. Instead, what clearly emerges is that the Municipality has done everything to keep the news hidden, without giving the whole country the opportunity to take action to jointly find a solution: 60,000 euros (the cost of managing the nursery) are an important figure, but not unreachable with the right notice. Perhaps it would not have led to the desired results, but we would have closed knowing that we had made every possible effort to ensure continuity ».
If the mayor, continued Pedrotta, “is really convinced that he can fill the municipal coffers with selfies taken from a giant bench, we admire him for his audacity, but without the essential services present in the area such as childcare, families will migrate to other municipalities, and the IMU, which in the end really supports the municipal revenues, will be thinning more and more. Schools will be depopulated and we will be forced to keep buildings empty, as in the case of the refurbished nursery in September and then close it in July ».
And marked by pessimism was also the observation of the minority group leader Massimo Stellato, who voted against the resolution: «In the end, this asylum will never reopen. Investments have been made in a structure – recalled Stellato – which now remains closed. Although the administration’s commitment to finding alternative solutions should be emphasized ”. A research through market surveys and meetings with neighboring municipalities, which began 8 months ago and which involved the mayor, the councilor for education Sara Baldi and the official Domenica Vittonatti. The various phases were retraced in the discussion in the council up to the agreement with Ivrea. Which for Galletto “was not so obvious”.