The school in Sampieri without the first grade of elementary, the disappointed parents express their frustration in a letter.

Sampieri, no first grade: the school is heading towards closure. Parents: "A collective myopia that is now presenting the bill."

A cold shower for the families of Sampieri: next school year, no first grade will be activated in the town's location and, within two years, the primary school will disappear altogether, leading to the closure of the school.

A decision that, according to the parents, does not depend on the decline in births. The students, although few, are there: seven in Sampieri and five in Cava d'Aliga.

The logic, they observe, would have suggested opening a first grade in Sampieri, considering that the education authority allows the establishment of classes with at least ten children in small centers.

What determines the outcome, however, is the transportation issue: there is no connection that allows families from Cava d'Aliga without cars to reach Sampieri, while there is an active school bus that takes students from Sampieri to other schools.

“We requested a 9-seat minibus, a single route, two trips a day – the parents explain in a letter – It was not possible. It must be made clear: the Sampieri school has never benefited from a school bus service, neither from other towns nor from the surrounding countryside. Not today, not yesterday. No municipal administration, over the years, has ever deemed it necessary to remedy this.

A collective and transversal myopia, which is now presenting the bill. To this is added the failure to implement a consolidated agreement: for years there has been a pact whereby the first grade of primary school is formed in alternating years, one year in Sampieri and one in Cava d'Aliga. This year it was Sampieri's turn. The Municipality did not support this agreement, and without transportation, families had to choose the lesser evil. A commitment unfulfilled at the moment when it was most necessary to respect it. We elected a parent to the school council to be present in every discussion, we met with the mayor, we argued, documented, waited. The result is this.”

To complicate the situation, they add, there is also the organizational choice for the coming year: “But there is also the mockery – the note continues – The first grade that will be activated in Cava d'Aliga will have a 40-hour program (the so-called full-time) with dismissal at 4:30 PM and the seven children from Sampieri will have to be picked up by their families.

It follows that seven families in Sampieri have less right than five families in Cava d'Aliga. The school in Sampieri is not just one institution among many: it is the last public institution remaining in the village. When the primary school closes, there will be hope for the kindergarten, which could keep the institution open. But it will be very little for a community that wants to have a future.

The families that would like to live permanently in Sampieri exist, but the houses are not accessible: the real estate market is now dominated by short-term rentals and those who would like to put down roots find neither prices nor availability. The school was the last reason to stay or to come. A community is not built only in the summer. Sampieri deserved a different answer.