School meals discussed

Chauncy Johnson, business manager for the Hot Springs County School District informed the board of plans in place to ensure students in the district will be receiving meals during the school closure through April 3.

Johnson said the federal government has allowed them to activate their summer program in order to provide food for students during this time.

Food service and some of the transportation staff has gathered together to provide grab and go meals for students during the closure, not to include the week of Spring Break.

The meals will be available in the loop at Ralph Witters Elementary. Parents will need to drive through the loop and pick up the meals through the window. All food must be eaten off-site.

Johnson added that food service has been going well while school has been in session with lunch participation up in all the buildings.

The board approved an addendum to the high school handbook for students to achieve an athletics letter in rodeo and possibly other types of sports moving forward.

High school principal Breez Daniels reached out to other districts to find out what they are doing in order to word the addendum.

Daniels said with a district goal of 90-percent of students participating in a sport or activity, adding rodeo at this time could open the door to other sports such as archery. Allowing them to letter in these sports could be a great opportunity.

The board discussed their concern regarding paying teachers if the school shut down should continue and classes go into the summer months.

Superintendent Dustin Hunt said the money has been budgeted and suggests reevaluating the situation after April 3.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jillian Balow, has already waived the number of days students and staff are required to put in for the school year.

Another concern is keeping students on track, especially SPed students if this shut down goes on longer than anticipated.

Hunt said they are hopeful the home learning going on will prevent too many students from falling behind and the district is dedicated to keeping everyone on track.

“This is unprecedented in our country,” Hunt said, “so we are working in good faith to keep some learning going moving forward. They may not be in their classroom, but the teachers are on call for anyone who needs them.

“We are constantly reevaluating things as they are changing quickly, sometimes every hour.”