Clarke Central High School’s Miller Jordan, Jr. Food Court sits empty on Jan. 14. Due to the closure of Clarke County School District schools in order to contain COVID-19, volunteers from the Athens community are helping to distribute free meals to students in need from March 17-20. “CCSD is providing a tremendous service to its students during a time of great uncertainty,” Clarke Central High School 2016 alumnus Kevin Mobley, a food distribution volunteer, said. “I think the biggest takeaway from today is I want as many parents as possible to know about the program. Nearly every volunteer spot is filled up through the whole week.” Photo by Tessa Beckham
The Clarke County School District will provide free breakfast and lunch meals for students in need during the district-wide closure to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Due to Clarke County School District’s closure of schools until March 31 to contain COVID-19, the district will provide free breakfast and lunch meals for students beginning March 17.
A March 17 press release details the closure of schools through the end of March because of an executive order from Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. During this closure, the Clarke County School District will continue to provide free meals to its students. “During the period of school closure, the Clarke County School District will continue to work to offer free meals to students,” CCSD Communications manager Beth Moore said in the press release. “Currently, a drive-thru option is available weekdays at Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary and Hilsman Middle from 8:00 a.m. till noon, and deliveries made to select communities via school bus routes.”
“We know food insecurity for students who rely on school meals is a major concern during school closures,” Georgia State School Superintendent Richard Woods said in a March 13 press release. “We are going to make sure there are options available for students as long as they’re needed, and state and district school nutrition staff are working round-the-clock to get this up and running for Georgia’s kids.”
The United States Department of Agriculture approved meal flexibility for students experiencing nutritional insecurities during the closure. For CCSD, this means a volunteer-based meal delivery via bus from Whitehead Road Elementary School, where meals are prepared, and drive-thru meal services at Hilsman Middle School and Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary School from 8 a.m. to noon each weekday.
“We’re operating the same system that we typically operate during the summer, our Seamless Summer (Option). Transportation is a known barrier for some of our families, so in order for them to get the nutrition they need during the summer, we take food out into the community on buses and so forth,” CCSD Director of School Nutrition Paula Farmer said. “We’ve got a collaborative approach going on. We’ve got social workers, psychologists, nurses and we have a team of experts here to help support families (all) to make sure we’re safe and make sure the families are safe as well.”
In addition, community members can sign up to help prepare, package and distribute meals to students.
“CCSD is providing a tremendous service to its students during a time of great uncertainty,” Clarke Central High School 2016 alumnus Kevin Mobley, a food distribution volunteer, said. “The smiles on students’ and parents’ faces when we told them what we had, as well as the sense of relief people felt, made it all worthwhile.”
“CCSD is providing a tremendous service to its students during a time of great uncertainty.”
— Kevin Mobley,
CCHS 2016 alumnus and food distribution volunteer
According to Mobley, the distribution team is taking certain health precautions to avoid spreading COVID-19 among these large groups at meal pickup sites.
“Volunteers split into groups of three or less per each bus route or volunteer station and also distance themselves on the buses. CCSD staff and volunteers are also in charge of distancing the lines if those do occur and advising students/parents on all CDC guidelines as it pertains to COVID-19,” Mobley said.
CCHS senior Cathy Bahena feels the meal distribution system will help to prioritize students while many are distanced from the daily nutritional support they rely on at school.
“A lot of people are getting infected by (COVID-19) and a lot of people are terrified about it. We need to let the community know that yes, something bad might be happening around us, but we’re still helping (out) as much as we can for our children,” Bahena said.
A graphic displays the Clarke County School District breakfast and lunch menus for the week of March 17-20. The district will provide two meals per student in need during the COVID-19-induced school closure through a drive-thru and bus delivery system. Information provided by the Clarke County School District, graphic by Audrey Enghauser
According to Farmer, certain logistical changes will be needed to ensure the efficiency of service in coming weeks.
“We sent out 15 school buses loaded with food and we didn’t serve a lot of students,” Farmer said. “We’re planning to modify our hours beginning next week. We as a district did not feel comfortable changing hours this week since they’ve been published to the public. So next week, we will start later in the day thinking that will help, as well as extend our hours.”
Because the nutritional support plan relies on a large number of people, according to Farmer, any long term plan will ultimately depend on the larger implications of COVID-19.
“This method we have right now in place is not sustainable, especially being able to adhere to social distancing. We will hopefully be able to come up with a system where we could provide families with a whole week’s worth of meals at one time,” Farmer said. “We’re just continuing to assess daily, because things are changing daily.”
“We’re just continuing to assess daily, because things are changing daily.”
— Paula Farmer,
CCSD Director of School Nutrition
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