The start of full-time schooling in Benevento has opened with a dispute over school lunches. Marika Botticella, a member of the Benevento Democratic Party's city leadership, said approximately 500 families had been left outside the school-canteen service just days before full-time classes were due to begin.
In the statement reported by NTR24 on 1 October, Botticella argued that affected parents were left without a workable alternative. Her central question was practical: how should families manage lunch if their children cannot use the canteen?
According to the report, Botticella said that taking children home for lunch and bringing them back to school within an hour is impractical for many families. She also stated that bringing food from home was prohibited in almost all school complexes, further narrowing the options available to parents.
The statement frames the issue as urgent. As reported, Botticella said the children's parents deserve an answer immediately — in the original Italian, "I genitori dei bambini meritano una risposta subito."
No official municipal response directly addressing Botticella's specific criticisms was included in the sources reviewed.
What the service covers
Benevento's school-catering service concerns pupils in state nursery and primary schools that operate full-time or extended hours. According to the Municipality of Benevento, eligible teachers and ATA staff using the same extended-hour schools are also covered.
That scope matters for readers: the dispute is not about all schools in general, but about access to the canteen where the school day continues into the afternoon.
1,500 applications and a 6 October start
Separate reporting on the school-canteen rollout provides important context for parents trying to understand the numbers.
According to News Istruzione, 1,500 applications for the service were submitted. The same report said the administration intended to cover all requests, with the service scheduled to begin on Tuesday, 6 October.
That report also said capacity would be expanded through a contractual variation and adjustments to the cooking center to handle the demand.
The available reporting therefore presents a clear discrepancy: Botticella's statement cites roughly 500 families allegedly excluded, while the other report cites 1,500 applications and an administrative commitment to cover all of them.
What remains unclear
Parents should be aware that several key points have not been clarified in the sources acquired:
- Whether the approximately 500 families cited by Botticella were subsequently admitted before the service began.
- Whether the 500-family figure refers to rejected applications, temporary exclusions, incomplete applications, or another category.
- Whether the reported 1,500 applications and the promised capacity expansion were fully implemented.
In short, the political criticism and the administration's stated commitment point in different directions, but the acquired sources do not establish how the situation was resolved.
What parents can do now
For families still uncertain about their child's place, the most useful next steps are direct:
- Check the admission status of the application with the school office or the municipal school-catering office.
- Ask the school specifically what lunchtime arrangements apply if a child is not yet admitted to the canteen, including whether any exception exists for food brought from home.
- Keep any written communication about admission, waiting lists, or start dates, since the reported figures leave room for differing interpretations.
The canteen start date reported — 6 October — is the immediate reference point. Until the gap between the exclusion claim and the administration's coverage commitment is clarified, families affected need a clear, case-by-case answer from the schools and the Municipality.
