Beaufort Co. schools changing meal delivery for students during coronavirus closure
One week into a statewide shutdown of South Carolina schools due to coronavirus, Beaufort County School District is changing the way it distributes free meals to students.
Starting Monday, the district will deliver lunch and breakfast for the next day at the same time as their bus route meal deliveries. Deliveries will take place from 9 a.m. to noon, and buses will stop for about 20 minutes at each meal delivery site.
Updated bus routes and schedules for meal deliveries are posted on the district’s website.
In addition to the bus routes, 11 schools and one community center are serving as drive-through meal pick-up sites: Battery Creek High, Beaufort High, Beaufort Middle, Bluffton High, Hilton Head Island High, James J. Davis Early Childhood Center, Okatie Elementary, Red Cedar Elementary, St. Helena Elementary, Whale Branch Middle, Whale Branch Early College High and the Port Royal YMCA.
Drive-through meal pick-ups will be available in the bus rider drop-offs at these sites weekdays from 9 a.m. until noon.
Any child age 18 or younger can receive free breakfasts and lunches regardless of meal status during the school year, superintendent Frank Rodriguez said in a press release. Meals cannot be eaten at these sites, and nobody will be allowed into school buildings.
“When picking up meals at one of the 12 distribution sites, parents will be asked how many children are in the car,” district spokesman Jim Foster said in a press release. “They will then pull their vehicle forward to a space when they can exit their vehicles and pick up the correct number of meals from a table.”
As of Friday afternoon, the district had given more than 17,000 free meals to students.