Day schools in the city of Zurich are causing renewed discussions
The nationwide introduction of day schools in the city of Zurich also gave rise to discussions in the second reading on Wednesday evening.
The nationwide introduction of day schools based on the model of the city of Zurich went unchallenged on Wednesday evening. Their anchoring in the municipal code was approved by 94 to 15 votes. Only the SVP spoke out against this.
The associated ordinance, which regulates the details of implementation, also found a majority. With 78 votes from the AL, SP, Greens, GLP and EVP to 31 votes from the SVP and FDP, these are a little less clear.
The municipal council had discussed this ordinance in its first reading at its meeting on March 9 from 10 p.m. to midnight. The left-green side of the council brought in various adjustments. School principal Filippo Leutenegger (FDP) spoke of many new decisions at high speed on Wednesday evening.
The template had been changed so much that the administration now has to calculate for a long time,leutenegger noted: If the city council had calculated additional costs of 75 million francs in its original version, with the municipal council adjustments it is now 126 francs.
FDP against cost explosion
The FDP is defending itself against this cost explosion, said municipal councilor Yasemine Bourgeois in a short debate. The introduction of day schools makes sense – but day schools “light” have become day schools “deluxe”. Bourgeois spoke of “negligent misappropriation of taxpayers’ money” and demanded that the costs should come down massively. The FDP reserves the right to take further steps.
The Zurich model envisages day schools across the board. These should be voluntary, but one type is considered registered until an explicit deregistration.
Parents should pay 6 francs per supervised lunch including meals. The city council wanted to demand 9 francs. In the first reading, however, a majority feared that too many parents would deregister their children from day schools. According to the school principal, Leutenegger, this perk alone causes annual additional costs for the city of around 10.5 million Swiss francs.
The voters of the city of Zurich will decide this year on the final introduction of day schools. The city council and school administration plan that all schools will be converted to day schools within seven years from the 2023/24 school year.
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