Copperas Cove ISD tackles challenges of extended spring break

By LYNETTE SOWELL 

Cove Leader-Press 

In light of the extended spring break the week of March 16-20, the Copperas Cove Independent School District is offering breakfast and lunch for children under age 18, and educators are offering supplemental packets for students by grade level. 

Starting Tuesday, families can drop by Fairview/Jewell Elementary, located at 710 S. 5th St.; Halstead Elementary, located at 910 N. Main St.; or Mae Stevens Learning Academy, located at 302 Manning Dr. to pick up meals. Meals will be distributed curbside, and students must present when parents or guardians go to the campus to pick up meals. 

The time for breakfast pickup is from 7:30 – 9 a.m. 

The time for lunch pickup is from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. 

“We are asking that parents/guardians NOT exit their vehicles as CCISD child nutrition staff will hand students their meals,” stated Wendy Sledd, CCISD Director of Communications. 

Each meal will contain a protein, grain, fruit, vegetable and milk, and all meals will be served curbside. Children will receive a complete meal that will be cold to ensure child nutrition staff are serving the safest foods possible.

Under federal guidelines, CCISD cannot provide meals for persons older than 18 and CCISD cannot sell meals to persons older than 18.

In order to facilitate the serving process and reduce the possibility of cross contamination, the district asks that families adhere to the following federal regulations: 

• Child nutrition staff can only hand meals to children ages 18 and under and only for the number of children in the vehicle with the parent/guardian. Children DO NOT have to be enrolled in CCISD to receive a meal.

• Child nutrition staff cannot send meals with just the parent; children must be present when meals are picked up.

School districts across Texas were able to provide the meals after the Texas Department of Agriculture was authorized to waive restrictions on the federal lunch program. 

Additionally, the district is offering supplemental learning opportunities for students this week. Online, parents and students may access Schoology for activities. Also, families and students may pick up packets this week, between 7 a.m.-10 a.m., 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., and 5 p.m. -7 p.m. at Hettie Halstead Elementary,  Fairview/Miss Jewell Elementary, and Mae Stevens Early Learning Academy.

As with the breakfast and lunch distribution noted prior, CCISD staff will hand parents/guardians the appropriate grade level or content specific instructional packet at curbside.

So far, this additional week of “spring break” for CCISD will not require any makeup days for students, according to the Texas Education Agency, which has assured school districts that a waiver will be granted for missed instructional minutes if a district provides some degree of instructional support to students impacted by the closure of schools. 

“In order to meet this requirement, CCISD instructional staff will be providing instructional packets for students. These packets will be available for students through Schoology or, if a student does not have internet connectivity, a hard copy of the instructional packet may be picked up at one of the campuses listed above. 

“Please ensure your student completes the instructional packet. If your student needs instructional assistance with any part of the packet please reach out to your child’s teacher through Schoology, email or call the CCISD Service & Training Center at 254-547-1227.”

Where graduation is concerned, CCISD does not anticipate graduation being impacted if schools are able to reopen in the next week or two. 

“A statewide solution developed by the Texas Education Agency would be needed if schools remained closed for a longer period of time.”

On Monday morning, Governor Greg Abbott announced that he has waived the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) testing requirements for the 2019-2020 school year. He also requested that the Department of Education (DOE) waive federal testing requirements for the 2019-2020 school year.