GA Schools Offering Meals To Students During Coronavirus Closures

GEORGIA — Schools across Georgia shut down due to the new coronavirus, which has nearly 100 cases in Georgia as of Sunday, leaving many students without meals. School districts have arranged for students to still get fed, through drive-thru services, mobile food buses and lunch drop offs.

Local school systems have already implemented some limited closures in specific areas to deal with recent presumed positive and confirmed cases of COVID-19. During a press conference Thursday, Gov. Brian Kemp said day cares, schools, and school districts have the freedom to implement further closures as early as Friday, March 13, for the next two weeks.

SEE MORE: Coronavirus School Closings In Georgia: List

"The Georgia Department of Education, University System of Georgia, Technical College System, and local school leaders have been invaluable partners to determine the best measures to protect students, teachers, and administrators," Kemp said. "We believe in local control for all systems when it comes to making the best decisions for their communities. They have flexibility, and regardless of whether they stay open or decide to close, we will support their decision."

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As of Sunday morning, one person in Cobb County has died from the respiratory virus, and the number of confirmed and presumed positive cases of COVID-19 rose from 66 on Saturday to 99 cases in 19 counties.

Here's a look at which Georgia school districts are arranging for students to get meals:

• Forsyth County Schools: Forsyth Schools will be offering free meal pick-up service for all students on the campuses of Sawnee Elementary, 1616 Canton Highway, and Whitlow Elementary, 3655 Castleberry Road, from noon to 1 p.m. from March 16-20. This is open to all public and private school students in Forsyth County, pre-school to age 18 (21 for special needs students). Students must be present with the adult during pick-up. They will be providing two free meals, one lunch for the day, one breakfast for the following day, via a drive-thru service. If you would like to assist others in our community regarding COVID-19, make food donations to The Place of Forsyth County and financial donations to United Way of Forsyth County. A needs list, which also includes an Amazon ordering option, and drop-off address are online.
• Fulton County Schools: Fulton Schools will host meal distribution beginning on Monday, March 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at six sites across the county: Lake Forest Elementary School in Sandy Springs; Mimosa Elementary in Roswell; Haynes Bridge Middle School in Alpharetta; Tri-Cities High School in East Point; Banneker High School in College Park; and Langston Hughes High School in Fairburn. For all arriving by car, meals will be brought out to you, do not leave your vehicle. Individuals arriving by foot or public transportation should avoid congregating in large groups. Although they appreciate the willingness of the community to assist, they are not allowing volunteers. There is limited staff. Details about locations and times for this distribution program can be found here.
• Gwinnett County Schools: As part of the district's Digital Learning Days March 16-20, 68 schools will provide meals for student pick up at the school and school buses will deliver meals at bus stops in the following clusters: Berkmar, Central Gwinnett, Discovery, Meadowcreek, Norcross, Shiloh, and South Gwinnett, and for the following schools: Alcova ES, Arcado ES, Berkeley Lake ES, Chesney ES, Duluth MS, Harris ES, Jackson ES, Knight ES, Lovin ES, McKendree ES, Northbrook MS, and Sycamore ES.
• Cobb County Schools: The Cobb County School District is partnering with MUST Ministries to provide food to students in need. As of Monday, March 16 MUST Ministries will distribute food boxes for all Cobb students in need at various distribution sites around Cobb. In addition to food provided by Cobb schools, if you want to donate, please drop off non-perishable food items at 1280 Field Parkway in Marietta or shop online and ship to the address above. The Cobb Schools Food and Nutrition Services kitchens are making large food donations to MUST Ministries, which MUST will use to feed Cobb families.
• Cherokee County Schools: The to-go meals for these communities will be delivered by the CCSD School Nutrition Cruisin’ Cafe mobile feeding bus on Monday, March 16, and Monday, March 23, at 10:10 a.m. at Hidden Falls Mobile Home Park (6310 Bells Ferry Rd #15, Acworth, GA 30102), 10:35 a.m. at East Gate Mobile Home Park (6359 Bells Ferry Rd, Acworth, GA 30102), 11:30 a.m. at Canton Mill Village (Old Tippens Drive Canton GA 30114) and Noon at Canton Housing Authority (1400 Oak Side Drive Canton GA 30114). This emergency service is being funded with monies set aside for the summer meal program; donations are welcome to help offset the cost and can be made by using the form here: http://bit.ly/CCSDdonate. School Nutrition staff will distribute to-go bags of food through drive-thru stations set up from 10 a.m. to noon on Monday, March 16, and Monday, March 23, in the parking lot or bus lanes of the schools or communities noted below. These bags will contain a week of breakfasts and lunches for a child. A child, infant to age 18, must be present in order for a bag to be provided. Children who do not attend one of the schools noted below can go to the site closest to their home. To be proactive in “social distancing,” families cannot stay at the site; do not come to a site if you are ill.
  • Carmel ES: 2275 Bascomb Carmel Road, Woodstock, GA 30189
  • Cherokee HS: 930 Marietta Hwy, Canton, GA 30114
  • Clark Creek ES STEM Academy: 3219 Hunt Road, Acworth, GA 30102
  • Hasty ES Fine Arts Academy: 205 Brown Industrial Parkway, Canton, GA 30114
  • Etowah HS: 6565 Putnam Ford Road, Woodstock, GA 30189
  • Indian Knoll ES: 3635 Univeter Road, Canton, GA 30115
  • Oak Grove ES Fine Arts Academy: 6118 Woodstock Road, Acworth, GA 30102
  • R.M. Moore ES STEM Academy: 1375 Puckett Road, Waleska, GA 30183
  • Teasley MS: 151 Hickory Log Drive, Canton, GA 30114
  • Woodstock HS: 2010 Towne Lake Hills South Drive, Woodstock, GA 30189
• DeKalb County Schools: DeKalb County School District has increased its feeding sites to a total of 23 locations during the COVID-19 closure. All DeKalb County students can receive a free bagged lunch daily, Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to noon at the schools listed. In addition, DCSD’s partner, DeKalb County government, will provide snacks to students between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the listed recreation centers. DCSD has also partnered with Atlanta Community Food Bank, which will distribute food once a week beginning March 23, at some of their feeding sites. The district is seeking additional partners.
• Atlanta Public Schools: Beginning Monday, March 23, all APS families can report to one of the five open APS school sites (Bunche, Cleveland Avenue, Douglass, Phoenix Academy, Sylvan Hills), Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. - noon, to receive a weekly bag of shelf stable grocery items from the Atlanta Community Food Bank. The Atlanta Community Food Bank has more than 50 sites for food distribution. Beginning Monday, March 16, APS partner, GOODR, will provide ready to eat meals at Hosea Williams Feed The Hungry, 4779 Mindy St., and Loaves and Fishes @ St. John the Wonderworker Parish, 543 Cherokee Ave. Beginning Monday, March 16, all APS students can daily receive free-bagged meals (breakfast and lunch) at five school sites that will be open for food distribution Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. - noon.

• Bunche Middle School, 1925 Niskey Lake Rd., SW, Atlanta, GA 30331
• Cleveland Avenue Elementary School, 2672 Old Hapeville Rd., SW, Atlanta, GA 30315
• Douglass High School, 225 Hamilton E Holmes Dr., NW, Atlanta, GA 30318
• Phoenix Academy (formerly Alonzo Crim High School), 256 Clifton St., SE, Atlanta, GA 30317
• Sylvan Hills Middle School, 1461 Sylvan Rd., SW, Atlanta, GA 30310

• Hall County Schools: The Hall County School District will provide breakfast and lunch for all students on its bus routes, once a day, beginning Monday, March 16. These meals are free. Both breakfast and lunch will be delivered together during this once-a-day delivery. Routes will begin at 8:15 a.m. and most should be completed by 9 a.m. If your children require meals, wait at their designated bus stop to receive delivery. Hall County School District families may also drive through any elementary school between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., Monday through Friday, to pick up student meals. Call your child’s school if you have any questions regarding meal delivery or pick up during our school from home days.
• Bartow County Schools: Starting Tuesday, March 17, the Bartow County School System will be offering free meal pick-up for children under the age of 18. The following schools will be distribution sites: Adairsville Elementary School, Hamilton Crossing Elementary School, Cloverleaf Elementary School, and Emerson Elementary School. From 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., during the extended closure, food service staff and volunteers will deliver prepared bag lunches and snacks to your vehicle. No registration is necessary. Services will end on March 27. Distribution sites are subject to change. Pending state approval, the Bartow County School System is set to offer a second meal option that does require registration. Starting Wednesday, March 18, they anticipate a meal delivery service available to children 18 years of age or under in Bartow County School System’s attendance zone. Use the provided link to register by Monday, March 16. Late registration applications will be accepted. To ensure meal delivery for late applicants, registration information should be received by 4 p.m. the day before the requested delivery. Meals will be delivered to approved bus stop locations according to school zone. If this meal option is approved by the state, confirmation will be posted on www.bartow.k12.ga.us and Bartow County School System social media pages. Register now, ahead of the anticipated state approval notice.
• Douglas County Schools: Beginning Wednesday, March 18, meals for children ages 0-18 will be distributed at the following high schools: Alexander, Chapel Hill, Douglas County, Lithia Springs and New Manchester High Schools. For a map with addresses of the schools, click here. These locations will provide a Wednesday drive-up service from 9 a.m. until noon. Douglas County School Nutrition will distribute breakfast and lunch for five days for children every Wednesday until school resumes. Children must be present in the car to receive the meals. Parents and children should drive to the front of the school (back of school in cafeteria area for New Manchester). Nutrition workers will deliver the meals to the car.

Gov. Brian Kemp on Saturday signed Georgia's first public health emergency declaration. The state of emergency includes price control restrictions for Georgia until April 14 as shoppers scramble to find necessities like toilet paper and cleaning supplies.

On Saturday, Kemp issued an executive order authorizing Adjutant General Tom Carden, at the request of Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Director Homer Bryson, to call up as many as 2,000 Georgia National Guard troops to state active duty to address the new coronavirus in Georgia.

As of Sunday, there are 99 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Georgia, the Department of Public Health said.

The state's lone fatality is a 67-year-old man who was hospitalized at WellStar Kennestone after testing positive for COVID-19 on March 7, authorities said. In addition to being infected with coronavirus disease, the victim also had underlying medical conditions, a news release said.

Presumed positive coronavirus cases in Georgia as of Sunday include: Dougherty County, Clayton County, Clarke County, Newton County, Henry County, Polk County, Gordon County, Fulton County, Cherokee County, Floyd County, Polk County, Bartow County, Cobb County, Gwinnett County, DeKalb County, Fayette County, Coweta County, Lee County, Lowndes County and Charlton County.

Globally, more than 156,000 people have been infected and more than 5,800 people have died from the new coronavirus, Johns Hopkins reported Sunday morning. Of that total, nearly 3,000 confirmed cases are in the United States. There have been 57 deaths in the U.S. have been tied to the virus outbreak.

See also:

• GA Coronavirus: National Guard Called, Price Gouging, 99 Cases
• GA Presidential Primary Postponed Over Coronavirus: Officials
• Publix, GA Grocery Store Hours In Flux For Cleaning, Stocking