Ozarks school districts provide lunch during virtual days

WILLARD, Mo. (KY3) - Despite virtual days, many school districts in the Ozarks provide lunches so kids do not go hungry.

School districts, including Republic and Willard, offer take-home breakfast and lunches to students while virtual learning happens. Friday morning, food services staff at Willard Intermediate School-South prepared breakfast and lunch for 150 students. Pick-up happened until noon.

According to Intermediate School South food services manager Paula Parker, roughly half of the students there are on free and reduced lunches. Parker says it takes about three hours to get all of the lunches ready. And she says it is worth it to see the students again.

“They get so excited when they see us coming out, you know,” says Parker. “It’s like, ‘Oh, there’s mu lunch lady!’ And so it’s always really fun to see the look on their faces when we come out and to know that we’re helping them out.”

Parents like Melannie Richard greatly appreciate the district’s gesture.

“I love it cause it’s kind of like they’re still getting the normalcy of being at school and not the awkwardness of being stuck at home,” says Richard. “And they’re still getting their lunchtime, just with a few different people.”

Friday was also the last day meal pickup will happen, with the school district announcing a return to in-person learning on Monday. The district told parents in the announcement:

“Currently, based on the number of known and predicted staff absences for Monday and our ability to fill those absences with substitutes, we plan to return to seated, in-person classes on Monday, January 24. Obviously, this is a very fluid situation and the number of staff ill and unable to come to work can change quickly. Therefore, we will continue to monitor the situation over the next few days. Should there be any changes, we will notify staff and families the evening of Sunday, January 23. "

The Republic School District says they intend to be back in session on Monday as well. It provided this statement:

“Currently, based on the number of known and predicted employee absences for Monday and our ability to fill those absences with substitutes, we plan to return to seated, in-person classes on Monday, January 24. Obviously, this is a very fluid situation and the number of employees ill and unable to come to work can change quickly. Therefore, we will continue to monitor the situation over the next few days. Should there be any change, we will notify employees and families Sunday evening. Otherwise, if you do not hear from us on Sunday, we will be in-person on Monday.”

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