A penalty for parents who have their minds elsewhere. Several cities in France are taking action.
Every week, millions of schoolchildren eat lunch in the canteen. Whether in primary schools, middle schools or high schools, this service is due to a well-oiled machine. Every day, catering staff work hard to prepare quality meals, adapted to the nutritional needs of students, while respecting the hygiene and safety standards in force. Meals are often planned several weeks in advance, particularly taking into account the seasonality of products. All this organization necessarily has a cost, which is largely covered by the communities.
According to theinvestigation on school catering by the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), published last June, the vast majority of municipalities in France (81%) offer a rate between 1 euro and 5 euros per meal. On average, the price of a meal is 3.80 euros, but it happens that the bill is much higher for parents of students who have to pay their share. Indeed, some municipalities apply a penalty to parents who have not registered their offspring in advance, so the latter has eaten in the canteen. This is the case in Quiberon, as reported by our colleagues fromActu.fr. “A 3 euro increase will be applied to families whose child attended the school restaurant without a reservation,” can be read in the operating regulations of the city’s Children’s Department. And that’s not the only one…
The Strasbourg metropolitan area has also implemented a penalty from “7th meal not reserved”. The billing is double the rate and is calculated according to the type of meal (standard meal, pork-free, vegetarian, etc.) and the family quotient of the households. Another case in Montpellier, since January 3, 2023, “in case of non-reservation, the meal will be charged and increased by €2”, indicates the city on its website. In other towns such as Senlis or Méru, the bill amounts to 5 euros and more per meal not reserved.
On a completely different note, municipalities also sometimes penalize parents whose children are registered by default for the school canteen and who do not go. In Orléans, for example, since the start of the 2023 school year, in the event of an unjustified absence, the penalty is 5 euros per meal wasted. In any case, the application of this type of penalty remains specific to each municipality. Parents therefore have every interest in finding out in advance about the terms and conditions and the penalty they incur if they forget to register their child for the canteen…