DeLand, FL - Volusia County Schools begins handing out free breakfast and lunch meals to its students tomorrow. There are 26 distribution sites on the website but some areas are not covered.
Volusia United Educators President Elizabeth Albert says this is a good start but many of the County’s low-income students are not being served. She says that in Volusia County, many children are dependent on the meals they get at school. "We need to focus as much effort on ensuring that kids can eat every day and not just the students that are enrolled in our schools. If they have younger siblings that need food, we need to make sure the family is fed."
Albert said the list of meal sites does not include one in Holly Hill where there are a number of low-income families. She said other districts are handling meal distribution differently. "In Duval, they are taking the bus route. They are loading the buses with meals and going to the bus stops. Families that don't necessarily have transportation can usually make it to a bis stop."
According to Albert, school buses could also be used for delivery of school work, technology or other things that students might need. "We can get to the folks that don't have the transportation to get to us. We can also use that midset of running buses to deliver food to deliver the paper packets of curriculum, if needed."
Albert said she thinks there’s a benefit to slowing down and being methodical and strategic on how the meal delivery and the digital learning are rolled out.
