Beaufort, Jasper County schools will have spring break. But what about free meals?
Normally, spring break fo the Beaufort County School District means it’s time for the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing tournament, vacations and some fun outdoors.
While the cornonavirus pandemic will make this year completely different, students will still get next week off from remote classes. Those classes have become the norm since Gov. Henry McMaster announced the closure of South Carolina schools through the end of April.
That week off doesn’t mean some students will go hungry, though.
While students and teachers get time off under the state’s “work or stay home” order, the district’s cafeteria workers and bus drivers are still on the clock.
On Tuesday, the district surpassed 100,000 free meals distributed to children during school closures. It’s currently distributing an average of 8,500 meals a day, spokesman Jim Foster said.
That distribution will continue during spring break, but on a slightly different schedule.
No meals will be distributed on Good Friday, which students would normally have off. Instead, Foster said, the district will give four meals to children at pickup sites Thursday — breakfast and lunch for both days.
During the week of spring break, students can pick up meals Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They’ll receive two days’ worth of meals Monday and Wednesday, and one day’s worth Friday, according to Foster.
The district has 12 meal pick up sites: Beaufort High, Beaufort Middle, Battery Creek High, Bluffton High, James J. Davis Early Childhood Center, Hilton Head Island High, Okatie Elementary, Red Cedar Elementary, St. Helena Elementary, Whale Branch Early College High, Whale Branch Middle, and the YMCA of Port Royal.
There are also 20-minute windows of curbside deliveries along certain bus routes across the county, which occur between 9 a.m. and noon. The full list of these stops is available on the district’s website.
Jasper County School District announced Wednesday that it would not distribute meals on Good Friday or any day next week during spring break. However, students can get meals for April 10-17 on Thursday at their bus stop pick ups, listed on the district’s website.
“Due to the large quantity of items, parents are encouraged to assist students,” spokesman Travis Washington said in a press release.
In addition, Washington said, the Antioch Educational Center will deliver 1,000 backpacks of food April 15 as a spring break meal supplement. The location and exact time of this delivery have not been determined, Washington said.