Priego approves the regulations for its municipal nursery school

The Plenary Session of the Priego City Council (Cuenca) initially approved, by agreement dated August 21, 2026, the Operating Regulations of the Municipal Preschool of Priego. The text is subject to public consultation for a period of 30 days from the day following its insertion in the Official Gazette of the Province of Cuenca, published on Wednesday, August 26, 2026 (number 98, pages 54 to 66, announcement number 2034).

The processing is supported by articles 49 and 70.2 of Law 7/1985, of April 2, Regulating the Bases of Local Government, and article 56 of the Recast Text of Local Government. During the exhibition period, any interested person may examine the document at the municipal offices or on the council’s electronic headquarters, and submit any allegations they deem appropriate. If no claims are registered, the agreement will be understood as definitively approved.

A regulatory framework for education from 0 to 3 years

The regulations, which are inspired by Organic Law 2/2006 on Education, amended by Organic Law 3/2020, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, seek to guarantee a quality educational provision based on equity, inclusion, co-education, and attention to diversity. It defines the admission criteria, pedagogical organization, schedules, coexistence rules, and the center’s security and hygiene measures.

The management of the service may be provided indirectly through awarding to external companies, although the text itself considers this “a possibility and not a rule of action.” In that case, the staff would have no contractual relationship with the Priego City Council, and monthly fees would be set according to the corresponding tax ordinance.

Admission, schedules, and priority criteria

The school will remain open from Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 15:30, with service from September to July and suspension in August, national holidays, Castilla-La Mancha regional holidays and local holidays, Holy Week, and Christmas. Users of the baby library service may transfer their spot to the preschool, subject to express acceptance within a minimum period of three calendar days.

For the allocation of spots, priority criteria are established which must be documented:

• Parents or legal representatives who are actively employed as of the date of the application, to promote family and work reconciliation.
• Being or having been a victim of gender-based violence or human trafficking in the last three years.
• The minor being a sibling of a student enrolled in the Public School or Institute of Priego.
• In the absence of the above, a public draw will be held, identifying applications by their registration number to guarantee anonymity.

Sanctioning regime for families

Chapter five of the regulations defines the infractions and sanctions applicable to service users, classified into three degrees:

• Minor (occasional delays in pickup, failure to respond to communications from teaching staff, aggression or insults between minors): verbal warning or written reprimand.
• Serious (accumulation of three minor offenses, non-payment of one monthly fee, disregard toward staff, or failure to report illnesses that may affect third parties): temporary suspension of the right to attend the center for 1 to 15 days.
• Very serious (accumulation of three serious offenses, prolonged non-payment, unjustified absenteeism for 15 days, aggression or insults toward staff, or falsification of data): permanent expulsion.

The Mayor’s Office shall be competent to initiate and resolve minor sanctions, while the Municipal Plenary shall resolve serious and very serious ones. The regulations will enter into force following the publication of their final approval in the provincial bulletin, and repeal any previous regulations regarding the operation of the school.

The approval of these regulations provides legal certainty to an essential service for work-life balance in the municipality, and now opens a period of citizen participation in which families may submit allegations before final approval.

Source: Official Bulletin of the Province of Cuenca, no. 98, August 26, 2026, Local Administration section, pp. 54-66 (official reference: announcement no. 2034).