School districts work to keep all students fed

School districts across the region are gearing up to get breakfast and lunch into the stomachs of needy students while they are out of school due to the ongoing threat of the coronavirus.

The New Paltz and Highland districts will distribute breakfast and lunch to families in need beginning Tuesday. The Kingston and Saugerties districts will make free breakfast and lunch available on Wednesday to students who receive free or reducedprice school meals, and the Onteora district will begin delivering breakfast and lunch on Wednesday to all students who sign up for the service.

Other districts continue to develop plans.

The Kingston School District said that, beginning Wednesday, it will make free to-go breakfast and lunches available for students in “community eligibility provision” (CEP) schools and students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals. The district did not say which schools in the district qualify as CEPs, and district officials did not respond to a reporter’s calls and an email.

The lunches will be available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. every weekday at John F. Kennedy Elementary School and J. Watson Bailey Middle School. Eligible students can pick up the meals by walking to the distribution location or using the “drive-through” curbside service.

In New Paltz, breakfast and lunch will be available for pick up or delivery daily beginning Tuesday. To receive the free meals, call (845) 256-4020 or go to bit. ly/2UeWHXZ and complete the online form.

In Highland, meals will be delivered to central locations around the school district beginning Tuesday, and on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays thereafter. For a list of delivery locations, go to bit.ly/2WeP06N.

Onteora will also deliver meals on Mondays and Wednesdays beginning March 18. For more information and to sign up, go to bit. ly/3deAVMK.

Saugerties is making free breakfast and lunch available to all students for pickup at 14 sites across the district beginning Tuesday. For a complete list of locations and pick up times, visit the Saugerties school district’s Facebook page.

The Ellenville and Rondout Valley school districts also plan to make meals available to students during the shutdown, though details were not available Monday.

In Northern Dutchess, the Red Hook Central School District will make bag breakfast and lunches available between 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., beginning Wednesday, by way of a drive-up service in the Mill Road Elementary School bus parking lot, as well as home delivery. Email schoolmeals@ rhcsd.org to pick up meals, and contact Transportation Director Jeff Popp at jpopp@ rhcsd.org for delivery service.

For local coverage related to the coronavirus, go to bit.ly/DFCOVID19. For live updates, visit bit.ly/DFcovid19live.