Overview

• Mayor Richard Arnold suggested on SWR that students should again help clean classrooms to ease city finances, citing roughly €4.5 million spent annually on cleaning schools, day cares and other public buildings.
• He said trimming professional cleaning hours could save €200,000 to €250,000 per year and indicated he would propose the measure in the next municipal budget, which he says has an €8 million gap.
• The Landesschülerbeirat denounced the plan as “unsinnig und nicht zielführend,” arguing savings would be limited and that cleaning would cut into lessons or force students to miss tightly scheduled buses.
• The Landeselternbeirat called for a political funding solution and rejected rhetoric casting children as “verschmutzende Schmarotzer,” noting many schools already assign limited duties like yard or classroom tasks.
• No decision has been taken, and the debate is unfolding against warnings of severe local budget shortfalls from municipal associations and a Verdi call for a November 8 demonstration on communal finances.