Schulverband

What Schulverband does

Schulverband Ratzeburg is a municipal school association (Schulverband / Zweckverband) re-established in its current form in 1973 under Schleswig-Holstein state law. It is a public-law entity (öffentlich-rechtliche Körperschaft), not a commercial enterprise, jointly owned by 18 member municipalities (Albsfelde, Bäk, Buchholz, Gr. Disnack, Gr. Sarau, Einhaus, Fredeburg, Giesensdorf, Harmsdorf, Kittlitz, Kulpin, Mechow, Mustin, Pogeez, Römritz, Schmilau, Ziethen, and the City of Ratzeburg). The association operates three schools across four locations — Grundschule St. Georgsberg, Grundschule Vorstadt, Gemeinschaftsschule Lauenburgische Seen, and Förderzentrum Pestalozzischule — serving approximately 1,500 primary, secondary, and special-needs students. It also operates the Offene Ganztagsschule (OGS / Open Extended Day School) program at two primary school locations, providing midday meals, homework supervision, and recreational activities, with OGS at the Gemeinschaftsschule site closing effective 01.08.2025.

Core products span educational services (Grundschule, Gemeinschaftsschule, Förderzentrum) and OGS sub-services (Kursangebot afternoon courses, Ferienbetreuung holiday care, Mittagsverpflegung lunch catering). Technology infrastructure is modest: a Strato AG-hosted website serves as the primary information channel, with OGS Connect (a third-party parent portal from an external vendor) launching for the 2026/2027 school year to digitize OGS registration, bookings, and management, and Kitafino providing meal ordering and prepaid credit management for the lunch program. No proprietary core technology platform has been built; the entity relies on standard SaaS integrations.

The business model is publicly funded rather than commercial. Revenue is generated through a Schulverbandsumlage (school association levy) collected from the 18 member municipalities (per an annual Haushaltssatzung budget resolution), supplemented by OGS fees set by municipal statute (Satzung) and lunch meal fees of €4.30 per meal (€4.00 catering via Lebenshilfewerk plus €0.30 Kitafino platform fee). Pricing for holiday care (Ferienbetreuung) is charged weekly regardless of actual attendance days. The entity does not sell into private markets, has no shareholders, and is not an investable asset. For a PE/VC/M&A audience, Schulverband Ratzeburg should be understood as a public-sector operating entity, not an investment target.

Name

Schulverband

Legal name

Schulverband Ratzeburg

Website

https://schulverband-ratzeburg.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1973

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Municipal school association (Zweckverband) operating three schools across four locations serving approximately 1,500 students across 18 member municipalities in the Ratzeburg region of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, providing primary, secondary, special-needs education plus extended day care (OGS).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public K-12 Education Services

NAICS

Administration of Education Programs (92311)

SIC

Services-Child Day Care Services (8351)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDADABAD

Local Education Authorities & Municipal Education Offices

Education/Education Administration, Accreditation & Policy/School Districts, Local Education Authorities & Boards

SECONDARYEDACAHAB

Extended Day Programs at Preschools & Childcare Centers

Education/Early Childhood Education/Before & After School Care (Early Years)

SECONDARYEDACAAAL

School-Age Wraparound Childcare Centers (Holiday/Break Care)

Education/Early Childhood Education/Daycare & Childcare Centers

Keywords

• Public education services
• Extended day care
• Primary school education
• After-school programs
• Special education services

Headquarters

HQ city

Ratzeburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Others

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Public municipal school association operating three schools (Grundschule, Gemeinschaftsschule, Förderzentrum) at four locations serving approximately 1,500 students across 18 member municipalities. Delivers the Offene Ganztagsschule (OGS) extended day care program with midday meals, homework supervision, leisure activities, course offerings, and holiday care, augmented by the new OGS Connect digital parent portal launching in 2026/2027.

Product overview

Schulverband Ratzeburg operates a unified educational services portfolio centered around its core function as a school association managing three schools (Grundschule Ratzeburg, Gemeinschaftsschule Lauenburgische Seen, and Förderzentrum Pestalozzischule) across four locations for approximately 1500 students. The primary service offering is the Offene Ganztagsschule (OGS), an Open Extended Day School providing midday meals, homework supervision, and leisure activities, which is being enhanced by the new OGS Connect digital parent portal launching in 2026/2027. The OGS is supplemented by course programs (Kursangebot), holiday care (Ferienbetreuung), and catering services (Mittagsverpflegung) via Kitafino integration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• OGS (Offene Ganztagsschule): Extended day care program offering midday meals, homework supervision, and recreational activities for students at school locations.
• OGS Connect

Products and services

• Offene Ganztagsschule (OGS) Open Extended Day School program offering midday meals, homework supervision, leisure activities, courses, and holiday care for primary school students at Grundschule Vorstadt and Grundschule St. Georgsberg locations.
• OGS Connect Digital parent portal for managing OGS registrations, bookings, and changes for the Offene Ganztagsschule (Open Extended Day School) program.
• Grundschule Ratzeburg Elementary school with two locations (St. Georgsberg and Vorstadt) operated by the Schulverband, providing primary education to school-age children.
• Gemeinschaftsschule Lauenburgische Seen Community school operated by the Schulverband providing secondary education to students.
• Förderzentrum Pestalozzischule Special education center operated by the Schulverband serving students with learning support needs and individualized educational requirements.
• OGS Kursangebot Afternoon course program within OGS offering activities such as arts, sports, gardening, and creative projects for students in grades 2 and above.
• OGS Ferienbetreuung Holiday care service during school breaks including summer (first three weeks), autumn, Easter (full periods), and Christmas (full period except Dec 24 and 31). Booked by full week.
• OGS Mittagsverpflegung Lunch meal service provided by Lebenshilfewerk and ordered weekly through Kitafino platform, with same-week cancellation possible until 07:30 daily at €4.30 per meal.

Quantifiable outcome

• Serving approximately 1500 students across multiple school types

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• KitafinocoreTechnology or IntegrationKitafino provides online meal ordering and payment platform for OGS lunch services. Parents order and pay for meals through Kitafino portal or app, with orders required one week in advance and cancellation possible daily until 07:30.
• LebenshilfewerkcoreOthersLebenshilfewerk provides hot lunch catering services to OGS locations and the Gemeinschaftsschule. Regional provider delivering quality meals. Lunch price increased to €4.00 effective 01.02.2026 after two years of price stability.
• OGS ConnectcoreTechnology or IntegrationOGS Connect is the new digital parent portal software for OGS registration and management. Starting school year 2026/2027, all OGS administration will be handled through this platform.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Stadt Elmshorn - Schulverband: Another Schleswig-Holstein municipal school association operating Grundschule, Gemeinschaftsschule and OGS services. Comparable in Zweckverband structure, member-municipality funding, and the integrated primary, secondary and extended-day service model.
• Schulverband Bad Segeberg: Another Schleswig-Holstein Schulverband coordinating school and OGS services across a multi-municipality catchment. Closely comparable in governance model (Zweckverband), funding mechanism (Schulverbandsumlage), and service mix (Grundschule, Gemeinschaftsschule, OGS).
• Schulverband Kaltenkirchen: A neighboring Schulverband in Schleswig-Holstein that operates multiple Grundschulen and OGS programs under the same state law framework. Directly comparable as a municipal school association pooling member-municipality funding to deliver primary, secondary, and extended-day education.
• Schulverband Bordesholm: A Schleswig-Holstein Schulverband pooling several small municipalities to operate Grundschule and OGS services. Comparable in structure, regulatory framework, and the small-to-mid-sized catchment profile typical of rural Schulverbände.

Broad incumbents

• Aramark Holding Deutschland: Major German provider of school catering and facility services. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the institutional meal services space the Schulverband relies on, and as a benchmark for scalable education-catering operations.
• Sodexo Education (Sodexo GmbH): A large incumbent school catering and facilities management provider in Germany. Comparable as a potential broader-market catering/OGS-meals alternative and benchmark for institutional food-service quality and pricing models in the German education sector.
• Kreis Herzogtum Lauenburg: The county-level government above the Schulverband's catchment, providing supervisory oversight and shared data-protection services (the Kreis Datenschutzbeauftragter services the Schulverband). Comparable as the higher-tier public administration layer coordinating education and youth policy in the region.

Others

• Lebenshilfewerk: Existing catering partner and regional social-services provider that supplies hot meals to the Schulverband's OGS. Comparable as an ecosystem participant tied to the Schulverband's meal program and as a wider social-services provider in northern Germany.

Regional players

• Stadt Ratzeburg: The City of Ratzeburg is the largest member municipality of the Schulverband and houses the entity's headquarters (Unter den Linden 1). Comparable as a regional public-sector actor providing overlapping education, family, youth, and senior services in the same catchment.

Emerging players

• Kitafino: A niche SaaS platform for ordering and payment of daycare/school meals, currently integrated with the Schulverband's OGS Mittagsverpflegung. Comparable as an enabling technology layer for OGS meal programs and as a potential white-label parent-portal model for similar Schulverbände.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/schulverband

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Schulverband