It is not compulsory to set up a school catering system in an elementary school, middle school or high school. But when such a service is offered, registration in the canteen must be possible for all children regardless of their situation or that of their family.

The prices of a school canteen are determined:

• by the municipality (or the public inter-municipal cooperation institution) for nursery and elementary schools;
• by the department for colleges;
• by the region for high schools.

Each community in charge of a school catering service must specify the conditions of access. In any case, your social situation cannot prevent your child from registering; in particular, it is forbidden to reserve the canteen for children whose parents work.

Communities can introduce social pricing into their canteens by offering different prices to families, based on their income and the number of children in the household (or family). family quotient of the family allowance fund). So it's a progressive pricing.

What financial support are available to you?

You can benefit, under conditions, from aid to pay all or part of your child's canteen expenses. To find out if such arrangements exist in the school restaurant attended by your child, you must inquire:

• to your city hall, if your child is in primary school;
• with the social assistance department or the school secretariat, if your child is in middle school or high school.