The Central Kitchen in Mill Run, Grand Case. (Photo Robert Luckock)
MARIGOT–Caisse Territoriale des Œuvres Scolaires de St. Martin (CTOS) wishes to inform parents of the upcoming revision of fees for school meals and extracurricular activities, following the recommendations of Chambre Territoriale des Comptes (CTC) and the approval by a Préfectoral decree.
The CTOS Board of Directors previously voted a decision to reorganise the rates that were deemed too low by the CTC. By a deliberation (n°12-2011) dated March 19, 2011, referred to by the Préfecture on March 29, 2011, the CTOS Board of Directors had revised the school catering rates then as follows:
For those pupils registered in the 1st degree, a 20 per cent increase per meal was voted, i.e. a tariff increase from 2.50 euros to three euros. For those enrolled in the 2nd degree, a 12.5 per cent increase per meal was unanimously adopted, i.e. an increase from 3.50 euros to four euros. Since 2011, tariffs have never been revised upwards despite price inflation linked to the cost of goods and the adjustments made in the refectories.
The increase that will be implemented as of January 1, 2020, will not in any way reduce the fund’s deficit. Indeed, the cost of the meal is 19.79 euros. The latest CTC opinion dated October 15, 2019, strongly recommends an immediate increase of one euro on meal rates, namely: from three euros to four euros for the first degree and from four euros to five euros for the second degree.
The CTOS Board of Directors met on November 4, 2019, to decide on the implementation of the recommendations of the CTC. Concerning extracurricular activities, the CTC recommends the increase from 50 euros per year to 25 euros per month. CTOS followed these recommendations but decided to wait until January 2020 to implement this tariff increase.
The CTOS Board of Directors has approved the application of these measures as from January 1, 2020, for the following reasons: to give parents time to integrate these changes between November 2019 and January 2020; communicate these new measures to parents who must take this increase into account in their budgets; during registration, CTOS collected the registration for extracurricular activities from September 2019 to December 2019, canteen tickets were sold until December 2019, there was no question of changing the fees during this period.
The revision of meal prices is explained because there had been no increase since 2011 despite the increase in food cost, the CTC clearly recommended this increase in agreement with the Préfecture.
It should be noted that in recent months, CTOS has made improvements in the refectories, for example, installation of air conditioning in all refectories to improve dining conditions, the use of associations to offer students fun activities and use of a dietician to offer balanced and varied menus.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/92650-ctos-increases-fees-for-lunches-and-extra-curricular-activities
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