FORT SMITH -- The Fort Smith School District is offering "grab-and-go breakfast and lunch" at several sites through today, it announced on its Facebook page.
Breakfast will be served 8-9 a.m. while lunch will be 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Child nutrition staff members will serve these meals at stations near the entrances of the following buildings:
• Ballman Elementary, 2601 S. Q St.
• Barling Elementary, 1400 D St., Barling
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• Beard Elementary, 1600 Cavanaugh Road
• Carnall Elementary, 2524 S. Tulsa St.
• Fairview Elementary, 2400 S. Dallas St.
• Howard Elementary, 1301 N. 8th St.
• Morrison Elementary, 3415 Newlon Road
• Pike Elementary, 4111 Park Ave.
• Spradling Elementary, 4949 Spradling Ave.
• Sunnymede Elementary, 4201 N. O St.
• Tilles Elementary, 815 N. 16th St.
Meals are free and available to all children between the ages of 1 and 18. Children must be present to receive a meal, but may go to any of the locations to get one. Parents can purchase breakfast for $2.50 and lunch for $4.
The school district provided the service on Monday, according to the Facebook page. The page also has a list of school district nurses who are available by phone or email to support students during the period while schools are closed, as well as contact information for each of them.
The School Board discussed the work the district has been doing in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic during a meeting Monday, the same day classes closed. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson ordered all public schools in the state to close. The closings will continue through next week, a scheduled spring break for state schools.
Martin Mahan, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the school district, provided the board with information regarding the district's Alternative Method of Instruction plan. Mahan said the plan, which was created last year, was aimed at dealing with classes not being held because of inclement weather. Because of the different nature of the present situation, several members of his department, principals and teachers looked into creating online curriculum to expand what is currently out there.
In addition to explaining how the alternative-instruction plan works for kindergarten through sixth grade and seventh through 12th grade students, as well as developments pertaining to it that are in progress, Mahan talked about how the plan accommodates students who do not have Wi-Fi.
"We have secured thumb drives, and we will allow students that don't have Wi-Fi to come up to school and they can get this thumb drive and log in there, access the Wi-Fi component and download all assignments and take it with them," Mahan said.
Superintendent Doug Brubaker said the district also has other employees who are going to be developing plans for helping students while they remain at home.
State Desk on 03/19/2020