A policy to feed students bread and
oil at lunch if their canteen fee has not been paid in public
schools in the Tuscan town of Montevarchi near Arezzo has
sparked an uproar, prompting the local mayor to suspend the
measure for a month on Tuesday.
Under the announced policy, students whose parents failed to pay
the fare would be fed with the so-called Tuscan fettunta - a
piece of toasted bread with olive oil - instead of a full meal,
as part of a decision taken by Mayor Siliva Chiassai Martini who
leads the local centre-right municipal government.
The mayor said the measure had to be enforced after fees for a
total of 85,000 euros were not paid between September and
February, prompting the protest of local public schools.
A number of schools announced that they refused to implement the
policy, saying meals during school hours are part of the right
to an education.
On Tuesday, however, Chiassi Martini said she would give
families another month to pay and their children would be
granted a full meal in the meantime.
The mayor said the students' families in financial difficulty
will be helped by social services while the others will have an
additional 30 days to pay before their children are fed bread
and oil for lunch until the end of the school year in June.
Members of the Tuscan chapter of the centre-left Democratic
Party (PD) expressed satisfaction saying the mayor's decision
was "reasonable" and "only made after the PD denounced (the
measure) at all levels".
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