Social work at all schools in the Offenbach district

• ofAnnette Schlegl

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The district council has decided to introduce school social work across the board for all school types in the Offenbach district by the school year 2022/23.

In the Offenbach district there should be school social work nationwide in all schools in the school year 2022/23. The district council unanimously decided in its meeting on Wednesday to expand the offer for all types of schools. The district committee must develop a concept for this. So far, the district has financed school social workers as the public youth welfare organization: only at secondary, special needs and vocational schools.

Municipalities such as Neu-Isenburg or Rodgau are financially relieved by the district council resolution. Up to now, they saw it as their task to offer school social work in elementary schools and financed this offer out of their own pocket. School social workers are on duty at all schools in Dietzenbach. District and municipality each finance half of the offer; the district grants support to the city because of its difficult social structure.

In the future, school social work will remain in one hand; the district, as the school authority, fulfills this task for all school types. He gets the money for the nationwide offer through the school levy. The financing of the school social work is passed on to the shoulders of all 13 district municipalities. This will increase the assessment rate for the school levy.

Decisive for the widespread school social work decided on Wednesday was the Greens with a corresponding application. The CDU and SPD submitted an amendment that the Greens supported. All state schools in the district could be staffed equally, said Maria Sator-Marx (Greens). Only the support provided by socio-educational specialists, the so-called Ubus offices, is not financed through the school levy.

In contrast to the past, school social work is not only seen today as something that makes up for deficits, said Sator-Marx. Support systems are needed in all schools today, not just for students, but also for teachers and school communities.

School social work is not there to repair the consequences of the corona pandemic, said Michael Schüßler (FDP). The district has seen the need selectively since 1991, and 30 years later there is now the realization that it is not a selective but an area-wide topic. Schüßler demanded a relevant number of hours as well as adequate rooms for school social work. That shouldn’t be “the broom closet” at a school, even if it would cost money.

The Offenbach district is now doing nothing other than fulfilling its statutory duties, said Jürgen Ries (Free Voters). There was no reason to exclude elementary schools and high schools from school social work. So far, this has mainly been done for cost reasons.

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