Coronavirus: Resources for Schools, Districts, Parents and More

This blog was originally published on March 13.

We have developed a COVID-19 Resource Hub with curated sets of resources to help support school staff, parents, teachers and more.

Healthy Schools Campaign is closely monitoring the news regarding coronavirus (COVID-19), which was declared a national emergency by the White House and a pandemic by the World Health Organization. As an escalating number of cases are confirmed across the US, schools are evaluating how best to prevent the spread of disease, protect students and staff, and facilitate learning amid extremely challenging circumstances.

The health and safety of students needs to be our top priority.

Widespread school closures are occurring across the country, with states and districts instituting closures for many weeks, and several governors alerting students and parents to plan on finishing the remainder of the school year at home. Millions of children will experience significant and unprecedented disruptions to their education.

Among the many recommendations made by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is that schools continue meal programs in the wake of school closures. Given that more than 22 million students nationwide rely on school meals to meet nutritional needs, we cannot overlook the importance of employing innovative and strategic methods to distribute meals and safeguard food security for our nation’s children.

Thankfully the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted waivers to all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington D.C., so that schools can run feeding programs, like they do in the summer, to provide free meals to students. The USDA also eliminated the requirement that meals be served in a group setting, and many districts are using creative methods like grab-and-go meal pick ups, school bus meal delivery, and other pop-up food systems to ensure that students do not go hungry during this time.

We want to share resources that draw on best practices to support schools as they navigate this public health emergency.