School meals will be more expensive: but not for parents for the time being

Schools - School meals will be more expensive: but not for parents for the time being

Due to high food prices and rising labor costs, the maximum price for lunch at Hamburg's schools is rising by ten cents to 4.90 euros - but caterers are still only allowed to charge parents a maximum of 4.35 euros per meal. The difference will be covered by the city, the education authority announced on Wednesday. It put the costs at around eight million euros per year. In total, the state subsidy for the 16 million lunches provided each year has thus risen to more than 50 million euros.

Schools senator Ties Rabe said that the maximum price for a school lunch would be increased to 4.90 euros in order to compensate for the continuing high costs incurred by caterers. "However, we want to avoid placing an additional burden on Hamburg families and will cover the difference until the end of the school year," said the SPD politician. The price of lunch at Hamburg's schools is staggered. For example, low-income earners and recipients of social benefits pay less or nothing for their children's lunch. The maximum rate of 4.35 euros per meal is paid by around a third of all parents.

The catering companies, on the other hand, are provided with the entire school infrastructure free of charge - since 2011, more than 280 school canteens have been built or renovated at a cost of over 290 million euros. The city also covers the costs for energy and water. Otherwise, all lunches would already be around 90 cents more expensive, the authority explained. In order to reflect the general price trend, it was also agreed with the caterers in 2020 that the maximum price to be paid by parents would be adjusted after the summer vacations on the basis of a fixed key.

Sabine Boeddinghaus, chairwoman of the Left Party parliamentary group and school expert, called on the Senate to forego an increase in the coming school year. "Further price increases cannot be borne by parents. We therefore need a clear signal from the Senate that there will be no increase in parental contributions in the 2024/25 school year either," she told the "Hamburger Abendblatt" newspaper. Parental contributions were only increased in August last year.