UPDATE 23/04
Annex to the communication regarding the functioning of the APEEE services as of 19/04 >
- 1) Why is the canteen closed in our school and still open in the others?
There has been a serious capacity problem in our school for many years. The other European Schools are also facing this problem, but the facilities of the European Schools are not identical and the canteen building of the European School in Laeken limits the number of pupils it can accommodate compared to other schools.
This canteen space, with its two floors and a very restricted canteen space in relation to the size of our school population, does not allow us to serve the pupils in complete safety.
- 2) The new circular 8051 states that all nursery and primary students can have a hot lunch, why not in our school?
As mentioned in question 1, it is not possible for us to serve the nursery and primary pupils in the canteen building in complete safety.
Moreover, the current situation and the prevailing uncertainty with regard to the Covid-19 outbreak does not allow the canteen to operate without accumulating significant financial losses. A concrete example of this is the resumption of our service in March 2021, where the 14 days that the canteen was able to operate did not show any significant results.
Indeed, the “Lunch Boxes” operation, first available as a cold meal and then as a hot meal, resulted in a substantial deficit. On the first day, Thursday 4 March 2021, the canteen recorded a loss of €4,000. The operation ended on Tuesday 23 March 2021 with a loss of €3,000. Only 197 lunch boxes were sold on average per day.
The forecast result for the canteen for the academic year 2020-2021 is more than -375 000€ after updating the figures to 22 April 2021.
While applying the principle of due diligence, the administrative Board of the APEEE of Brussels IV has therefore decided not to increase this deficit and to close the canteen service until the end of the 2020-2021 school year.
- 3) Why can’t the cafeteria and the Snack Shack open?
As mentioned in question 2, the financial difficulties that our canteen service is facing do not allow us to open only the cafeterias either.
The pre-order system put in place in March 2021 is therefore suspended for now and the “Cafeteria” part of our APEEE BRU IV app will not be available until further notice. The amount available in your child’s cafeteria account will still be active next year or will be refunded if applicable.
- 4) What about the reimbursement of unprovided services?
The APEEE Board has been discussing in detail the principle of a reimbursement to parents for services not provided due to the Covid-19 situation.
We will reimburse you the amount of services not provided pro rata temporis, after deduction of the operating costs of our services during the periods when they were unable to operate. In other words, we will reimburse you for the services not provided, less the above-mentioned fixed costs that we had to cover to allow the APEEE to continue operating during these periods.
Please note that the reimbursement will be based on the increases voted at the General Assembly on 25 January >
Except for nursery children for the period from 4 to 23 March inclusive, the amounts foreseen for your 2020-2021 canteen subscription for the 2nd and 3rd terms are cancelled and you will no longer receive payment requests from our canteen service.