Klassenfahrt Money in Frankfurt: Hessen's Cost Ceiling, the Parent Vote, and Who Pays If You Cannot

Who Decides, and Who Signs the Contract

A Klassenfahrt in Hessen is not something a teacher can simply book. The Kultusministerium’s rules on school walks and trips, the Erlass Schulwanderungen und Schulfahrten, lay out a chain.

• The Schulkonferenz decides the school’s principles for trips after hearing the Schulelternbeirat, the pupils’ representation and the teachers’ conference. The Schulelternbeirat is made up of the parent representatives elected from each class, the Klassenelternbeiräte.
• The head teacher approves each trip.
• A multi-day trip may only go ahead if teachers, parents and pupils have agreed on it, and for parents this means a majority in a secret vote.
• The teacher signs the contracts with transport and accommodation providers in the name of the parents, and only after the parents’ written consent and the approval exist.

So you have a voice before the money is due: the parents’ evening and the secret ballot are where a plan with a price per child is put to you. Ask for the price and the plan in writing before you vote.

What a Trip May Cost

The 2009 Erlass set 150 euros (Germany) and 225 euros (abroad), with 300 and 450 euros for long-term saving. The ministry doubled those in 2022, and its approval form from January 2024 carries the new figures.

The ministry told the state parliament in its 2022 answer that the ceilings need not be used up, and that saving over several months must be offered if a trip costs more than 300 euros in Germany or 450 euros abroad. The same answer stresses that costs should follow families’ means and that nobody may be excluded for financial reasons. The ministry’s approval form even carries a box in which the school confirms that no pupil is excluded for economic reasons.

Other limits in the 2009 text of the Erlass for general schools: up to eight teaching days a year per class for walks and trips, a multi-day trip of up to five days in grades 1 to 10, and, to protect families’ budgets, normally only one multi-day trip in a school year and in a calendar year. In grades 5 to 10 a pupil can join at most three multi-day trips.

How the Money Is Collected

On this point the Erlass is silent. In the text we read it sets ceilings, procedure and contract rules, but it does not say whether the money goes to a school account, a class account or a Förderverein, or how it is documented. Do not assume a rule that is not there. Instead ask for these things in writing:

1. The total price per child and what it includes.
2. The instalments and due dates, and whether a saving plan is offered.
3. The name of the account holder and the reference to use.
4. How you receive proof of payment.
5. What is refunded if the trip is cancelled or your child cannot go.

If you are asked to hand over cash, ask for a signed receipt. If something looks irregular, address it to the head teacher first, and then the Staatliches Schulamt, which supervises schools.

If You Cannot Afford It

First, tell the class teacher early. The rules say planning must make sure nobody is excluded for financial reasons, and the school can only act if it knows.

Second, claim Bildung und Teilhabe. The law, § 28 SGB II, says that for pupils the actual costs of school outings and multi-day class trips within the school law rules are recognised. The City of Frankfurt lists class trips among the BuT benefits and confirms eligibility for Kinderzuschlag, Wohngeld, Sozialhilfe, asylum seekers’ benefits and Bürgergeld (now Grundsicherungsgeld).

The city’s BuT page says you do not have to fill in an application: an informal message by phone or email is enough, followed by proof such as the school’s letter about the trip. It offers a form for class trips and a notification sheet. The Jobcenter says the SGB II application already counts as a BuT application and asks for proof of expenses, and it has its own form for multi-day trips. Because the pages ask for proof of costs, ask the office before you pay whether a claim for a payment you already made is accepted, and send the school’s letter as early as you can.

The Frankfurt-Pass belongs to the same group of families, but the city’s page on it lists leisure, culture, library, swimming and transport discounts, not school trips. See our guide on Kinderzuschlag and the Bildungspaket for the other BuT items.

If the Trip Does Not Happen or Your Child Cannot Go

The Erlass has two rules. If a trip fails for reasons within the school’s responsibility, the state steps in for the costs third parties claim. If a pupil cannot take part because of illness or another important reason, the pro-rata costs are kept unless the transport or accommodation provider refunds them, and the school is told to point to travel cancellation insurance. If your child may have to drop out, ask the school at once, and ask whether the insurance covers illness. Our guide to accident insurance at school covers the separate question of injuries.

Step by Step

1. At the parents’ evening, ask for the plan, the total price and the payment schedule in writing.
2. Vote in the secret ballot, and tell the class teacher about any difficulty.
3. If you receive benefits, notify the Jobcenter, Jugend- und Sozialamt or Sozialrathaus with the school’s letter.
4. Ask the school for the payment details and a proof of payment.
5. Keep every receipt and message.
6. If your child cannot go, ask in writing about refunds and insurance.

Compliance Note

This guide describes the Hessen rules for school trips and Frankfurt’s Bildung und Teilhabe offer as published in October 2026. The Hessen Erlass of 2009 was amended in 2022 (the cost ceilings were doubled by a ministry letter of 2 February 2022 issued ahead of a planned new version of the Erlass), and we did not find a newer consolidated version. Ask your school whether a newer text applies. It is not legal advice. Cost ceilings, contacts and benefit names change, and your school applies its own principles. Confirm the details with your school and the competent office.