Schools hamstrung over feeding students as coronavirus leads to closures
USDA can make some exceptions to its meals programs but most districts will have to fend for themselves on how to feed poor students.
There is no Meals on Wheels system for delivering food door-to-door to low-income students.
School officials are growing increasingly anxious over how to keep feeding the nearly 22 million students who depend on subsidized breakfasts and lunches served at schools in the event facilities shut down to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Schools in Washington state, California and New York have temporarily closed their doors amid local outbreaks, and officials warn that more are likely to follow as the governments grapple with how to contain the virus.
Districts where an especially huge swath of students live in poverty, including Los Angeles and New York City, are holding off on closing in part because of concern about how to keep kids fed. But in the interest of public safety, they may not have a choice but to shut down.
"Schools should be thinking about what they're going to do if they're going to close and how they're going to ensure that their students nutritional needs are going to be met," said Crystal FitzSimons, director of School and Out-of-School Time Programs at the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit organization tackling hunger issues.
States can tinker with how to keep delivering meals. Over the weekend, the Agriculture Department, which manages school nutrition programs, said CONTINUE READING: Schools hamstrung over feeding students as coronavirus leads to closures - POLITICO