BY SYDNEY HOOVER
The Eudora School District will offer free meals at only two locations starting Monday, Superintendent Steve Splichal said at a School Board meeting Thursday night.
The district has offered meals for children at six locations throughout the city since March 23. However, with growing concerns of the coronavirus, Splichal said staff agreed it would be best to limit the meals to two locations.
Doing so will reduce the number of employees who need to work on site. Furthermore, meals will now only be available via drive-through at Eudora Elementary and Eudora Middle School.
“In a time when we know that we’ve got a large number of families that one or both of the parents may be unemployed at this point, and to have meals for children, is significant,” Splichal said. “At the same time, we want to balance that with, obviously, maintaining the safety of our employees and trying to take care of them.”
This comes as several districts in the area, including the Tonganoxie, Topeka and Kansas City, Missouri, school districts, suspend their free meal programs as food service staff test positive for the virus. Splichal said the decision was made based on feedback from Food Services Director Sharla Miller and Transportation Director Machaela Beshears.
District spokesman Mark Dodge said the change was not due to any positive or presumptive positive coronavirus cases, but rather was to ensure the program could be sustained for as long as possible.
In other business, the School Board heard updates from all three principals and some teachers on the district’s online learning plan. Since most of the curriculum was taught prior to spring break, Eudora Middle School Principal Jeremy Thomas said teachers are focusing on connecting with students to continue relationship building.
“I think our staff are needed more than ever now because of the relationship side. The connections are important,” Thomas said.
Fourth grade teacher Theresa Wilcox said many of her students are taking charge of their learning and getting school work done first thing in the morning. She said the second week of teaching has been much smoother than the first.
Other teachers from elementary grade levels shared similar feedback. High School Principal Ron Abel said Splichal helped in preparing for what could happen prior to spring break, so he and his staff had an idea for an online curriculum laid out before schools closed for the rest of the school year.
Abel said he still hopes to find some way to recognize graduating seniors, who he says have missed out on experiences that are “rights of passage” as they come to the end of their high school careers.
“It’s an important piece of their lives, and I don’t want them to feel like they’ve missed that opportunity,” Abel said.
The School Board also unanimously approved an alternative schooling plan discussed at the March board meeting. The schooling plan will begin in the fall at Eudora High School, and Eudora High School Assistant Principal Joe Zlatnik said he wants it to focus on helping at-risk juniors and seniors to ensure they graduate on time.
The program would allow for smaller class sizes to assist students who are credit deficient. Currently, the district offers online schooling, but the lack of guidance makes this difficult for some students.
Reach reporter Sydney Hoover at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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