YMCA to lead free meal program for Shelby County Schools students
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The YMCA will run point on providing free meals to Shelby County Schools students during school coronavirus closures, the district announced Sunday.
YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South will provide the daily lunches from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at more than 60 sites, according to a district advisory Sunday, two days after the meals program was suspended due to a school nutritionist contracting COVID-19. The city of Memphis will also transport the meals and provide staff, and the Mid-South Food Bank will offer urgent meals to 200-400 families at each of its mobile food pantries.
More:Here's where SCS students can eat free lunch during coronavirus closure
“The Memphis community is strong,” Superintendent Joris Ray said in a prepared statement Sunday. "Thank you to everyone for coming together in this time of need at Shelby County Schools. Our goal to eliminate hunger for children during this public health crisis has been met with a tremendous response from the community which is affirmation that WE ARE 901.“
Want to help?:Volunteer for the Mid-South Food Bank here
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland highlighted the swift response to the crisis in his daily coronavirus update:
"It’s amazing what can be accomplished when people work together to get things done, and this is a prime example. As soon as we heard the news, the City, YMCA, Feedwells, Mid-South Food Bank, and Shelby County Schools worked together to craft an alternate plan to make sure students do not go without food."
In addition to the school lunches, McDonald's plans to begin offering free breakfasts to students 13 and younger Saturday through March 27 at 41 locations across the county.
SCS suspended meal plan after employee tested positive for coronavirus
Parents and teachers were caught off-guard Friday when the district suspended its meal program. The schools nutrition center employee who tested positive for COVID-19 did not prepare food, district spokeswoman Jerica Phillips said at the time.
"As a result, we have no choice but to suspend all planned meal distribution for students indefinitely. This is very unfortunate, but we can't proceed and take any chances," Ray said Friday in a note to families.
Phillips said the decision was made out of an "abundance of caution."
Arlington Community Schools announced it would also suspend its student meal program, according to a press release posted to the district's Facebook page Saturday morning.
The press release did not cite any reported coronavirus cases within the Arlington school district.
Rather, the district is doing so following the news about the SCS employee.
In light of the SCS news, "the rising number of positive cases in Shelby County and out of an abundance of caution to protect our ACS nutrition employees, Arlington Community Schools will indefinitely suspend our free meal distribution program," according to the release.
Tennessee officials, community leaders issue quick response
Ray used the news conference Friday to call on community partners to help the school district bridge the gap.
If you want to help, contact SCS at: Partnersupport@scsk12.org
Penny Schwinn, the state's education commissioner, released a statement shortly after the announcement, noting that the state was in touch with SCS.
"... we are committed to working closely with the district to identify immediate solutions," Schwinn said in the statement. "The priority for all Tennessee public schools and districts is to ensure our children are fed — we will come together as a state to support one of our own and the children counting on us.”
City of Memphis officials said Friday afternoon they are formulating a plan to replace the meal distribution. City officials were made aware of the positive test and suspension of meals Friday morning.
City of Memphis spokesman Dan Springer said Friday, "These kids will not go hungry."
What was the original plan?
The suspension of the meal plan came exactly one week after Ray announced the district would develop a plan to feed its students during the 2-week closure.
Quickly after the announcement of the district closure the day before, March 12, several community members had already begun to offer ways to assist students, Chalkbeat reported.
By Thursday night, before SCS learned about the food services employee's positive result, the district was ready to continue forward in its plan "that involves the least-risky exposure," as the district had said, for students and families.
Across more than 60 sites, the district was ready to serve 15,000 meals per day and was preparing to ramp up meal production as they saw demand, Phillips said Wednesday. That plan was modeled after the district's summer meal program, which is located in 400 sites across the county.
SCS nutrition staff generally prepare more than 150,000 meals daily for the district's students, Phillips said Wednesday .
"(That plan) is nothing new to this team," Phillips said Wednesday.
By Monday, the Tennessee Department of Education had applied for and received two waivers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) allowing students to still receive meals despite school closure.
One waiver permits the school feeding authority, its local nutrition staff, to continue to use school sites to prepare food even during unexpected closures. The second waiver permits schools to use "innovative methods" to ensure children receive food without having students in cafeterias.
The state's nutrition guidance for coronavirus closures can be found here.
Commercial Appeal reporter Samuel Hardiman contributed.
Laura Testino covers education and children's issues for the Commercial Appeal. Reach her at laura.testino@commercialappeal.com or 901-512-3763. Find her on Twitter: @LDTestino