SC officials working on plan to provide Horry students meals after HCS suspends service
Horry County Schools suspended its meal program for at least two weeks due to the impact of coronavirus on its staff, but state and local officials are actively working on a plan to still provide food for students in need.
HCS board chairman Ken Richardson told The Sun News they’re working on an option that would possibly involve providing meals without using district employees, and they’re hoping to have a plan in place to return services by Monday.
The South Carolina Department of Education is also working on a relief effort for Horry County that it hopes to announce Thursday, according to spokesman Ryan Brown.
Only one other school district in the state has suspended meal service — Dillon 3 from Apr. 9-21 for unknown reasons — though some others aren’t providing the service during spring break, according to the department’s overview of district meal plans.
The district suspended its meal program, including 13 grab-and-go sites and multiple bus delivery locations, beginning Thursday, after multiple employees tested positive for COVID-19 and others with potential contact were directed to self-quarantine.
Three employees working at Socastee Elementary and South Conway Elementary were confirmed with the virus last week, the district confirmed, and the latest announcement noted at least one employee had also tested positive in the North Myrtle Beach attendance area.
District spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier told The Sun News that no additional information would be provided about the number of employees or where they were working, but Richardson said he believes the total of positive cases is six or seven.
One of those employees, a bus driver, died earlier this week, according to Richardson.
Richardson said he received dozens of emails from employees expressing concern, including some stating they were being required to work to be paid even if they had health conditions making them susceptible to COVID-19, but it’s his understanding that the work was on a volunteer basis for payment in addition to their salary.
He couldn’t follow up with many of their concerns because most were sent anonymously, he added.
Employees will continue to be paid despite the service suspension, Bourcier wrote in an email, noting that personal protective equipment including gloves were provided to employees while they worked, as well as face masks when available.
District staff served 166,072 meals to students from the beginning of the closure on March 16 through Wednesday, according to Bourcier. The most used sites were Whittemore Park Middle, St. James Middle, South Conway Elementary, Palmetto Bays Elementary and North Myrtle Beach Middle.
The district’s decision is not expected to impact the roll out of buses equipped with WiFi that will drive to different parts of the county to provide internet access for students.
Nine buses have been equipped and will be sent out into each attendance area beginning Monday, according to Bourcier, who noted additional information on that program will be forthcoming.
This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 2:29 PM.
