Montessori School of Cortina: 22 thousand signatures against closure

Nursery and children’s home are in danger of having to go out of business starting in March. The petition is addressed to the Region, the Municipality and the Ministry of Education

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO. In a few days, the online petition launched on Change.org by the Montessori Center in Cortina to ask the Region, the Municipality and the Ministry of Education to take action against the closure of the center has exceeded 22 thousand signatures. The nursery and children’s home, which host children from zero to 6 years old, will in fact go on until March, to allow working families to complete the winter season, while the elementary school, being an equal school, it will run until the end of the current school year. The confused situation involves the municipal administration and the association that manages the Montessori center and is centered on the failure to disburse municipal contributions and on the issue of renting the building of the building owned by the Municipality in which the activities are carried out.

«The Montessori Cortina Center is a Scholastic Institute that has been involved in education and instruction since 1997 with a Kindergarten, a Kindergarten and an Equal Primary School, using the Montessori method», explain the authors of the petition. “The whole Center is bilingual Italian-English and is managed by the voluntary work of the parents through the Association Make a Nursery, a non-profit organization”.

«The school building», the text continues, «is owned by the Municipality of Cortina. In 2012 a council resolution assigned the building on free loan in consideration of the social service carried out in favor of the community. But the resolution was never carried out by the competent offices and the reasons never disclosed to the parents. Today the Municipality of Cortina is asking parents for 400 thousand euros for previous rents and compensation for untitled occupation and the signing of a lease of approximately 5,800 euros per month “. Now, the online appeal continues, “they asked for the release of the property and provided for the assignment through a tender which, according to the municipal administration, would exclude the association from participation because the sums requested constitute a debt”.

“There is no municipal infant-toddler center or preschool in Cortina,” the authors conclude. «The association has been carrying out a service delegated by the Municipality since 1997. The parents have relied in good faith on the 2012 resolution; now the risk is closure due to debts and / or lack of space where the service can be provided. In the Cortina area there is no other property suitable for hosting the school service provided by the Association. With the closure, the plurality of training offers in the area for the 3-11 year old age group ceases “.

The link to the petition is the following: www.change.org/p/regione-veneto-salviamo-il-centro-montessori-cortina.