Local school districts offer grab-and-go meals during coronavirus closure
A sporadic procession of vehicles rounded the parking lot at Lydia Hawk Elementary School in Lacey mid-day Monday, the first week day after Gov. Jay Inslee’s announcement that K-12 public and private schools across Washington state had to be closed by Tuesday, March 17.
Car by car, drivers rolled down windows so staff could hand over brown bags filled with prepackaged sandwiches, fruit, raw veggies, a dessert, and a carton of milk. Families also could pick up breakfasts for the next morning.
Schools statewide will stay closed until at least April 24 in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. Thurston County districts had agreed to close prior to the governor’s announcement.
The mass closure introduces a host of challenges for district and school administrators, teachers, families, and students alike. One of the biggest: How to feed students who rely on schools for basic nutrition.
According to data from the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, more than 15,500 students across school districts in Thurston County qualify for free and reduced-price lunches. In the county’s biggest district, North Thurston Public Schools, OSPI data shows 7,055 of the 15,700-plus students enrolled this school year — nearly 45% — have identified as low-income and 578 have identified as homeless.
Some area districts have started implementing drive-thru food pickup sites for students, like the one at Lydia Hawk, that are open for an hour or two mid-day.
Grab-and-go meals are free at the sites for children ages 18 and younger — and the NTPS website also explicitly includes special education students ages 19 through 21.
Students won’t be asked for their names, identification, enrollment status, free and reduced-price meal designation, or school they attend, according to districts. Parents need to have the students with them to get the meals.
Alicia Neal, director of Food and Nutrition at NTPS, said the district prepared 3,800 meals for the district Monday. Three hundred of those were for Lydia Hawk. At the elementary school, 70% of students qualify for free and reduced-price lunch, Neal said.
Preparing a large quantity of meals at once is no unfamiliar task for Neal and kitchen staff.
What’s novel is the format: Serving on-the-go meals outdoors. Neal said she and office staff worked Saturday and Sunday to prepare, and that awareness of social distancing is high.
“We’re following all of our regular food-safety processes,” Neal told The Olympian. “Our staff already wash their hands between every task that they do within the kitchen. We’re trying to keep food, as much of it as possible, already prepackaged or prepared, so that’s helpful. And then, our next step is really just trying to follow the social distancing parameters that everyone else has been provided, as well.”
Tracey Blackburn brought three nieces and her two sons to the school to pick up meals on foot Monday. She told The Olympian she found out about the food giveaways via a text message from the district. Food was one of the first concerns, she said, when she learned of school closures.
Without this service, she predicted they’d be relying on the local food bank — they’ll be back each day of the closure.
“This counts as their P.E.,” Blackburn said, as the kids buzzed around her.
As the situation continues to develop and evolve, Neal said the district may need to change models. To keep up-to-date in case of changes to times or locations, be sure to check the website for the school district where you live.
Grab-and-go school meal sites, as of March 16
North Thurston Public Schools is running sites at all 13 of its elementary schools and Salish Middle School from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. throughout the closure, in accordance with its 2019-20 school calendar.
Olympia School District is offering grab-and-go meals Monday through Friday throughout the closure, including over Spring Break, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at all elementary schools as well as at Jefferson Middle School and marked OSD vans at six community sites:
- 1209 Fern Street SW
- 515 Courtside St. SW, Olympia
- McLane Fire Station No. 94 (6005 Cooper Point Road NW)
- Skateland Skate Center (2725 12th Ave. NE)
- Friendly Grove Park (2316 Friendly Grove Road NE)
- Gull Harbor Lutheran Church (4610 Boston Harbor Road NE)
Olympia also notes in its online information that Capital High School students who live in Griffin School District can get meals at the Griffin School Monday through Friday this week, and that an announcement about meal distribution beyond March 20 at that location will eventually appear on OSD’s website.
Tumwater School District has grab-and-go meals for pickup at four schools: East Olympia Elementary, Littlerock Elementary, Michael T. Simmons Elementary, and Tumwater High School.
The sites are open starting Tuesday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., then 5 to 6 p.m. on week days throughout the closure, including Spring Break.
Rochester School District will offer meals for pickup starting Tuesday, in accordance with the 2019-20 school calendar, at:
- Swede Hall Parking Lot (18543 Albany St. SW) from noon to 1 p.m.
- Rochester High School from 11 a.m. to noon.
Other locations will be “treated like a bus stop,” where the district will distribute meals while there are people there, waiting, according to the district website. Those locations are:
- 201st at Prairie Pines Park at 11 a.m.
- Bus garage parking lot (7505 183rd Ave.) at 11:40 a.m.
- Boys & Girls Club (10140 Highway 12 SW) at 12 p.m.
Shelton School District is offering free breakfast and lunch to students and community members who are 18 years and younger in a “grab and go” manner, set up from 9 a.m. to noon weekdays at the Shelton High School Student Union Building, Bordeaux Elementary School, Evergreen Elementary School, and Olympic Middle School.
This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
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