Free meals? Graduation? Prom? Answering your questions about COVID-19 school closures
More than 125,000 Treasure Valley students were sent home this week as school districts shuttered amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision left local school districts scrambling to rearrange their schedules, set up meal services for needy children and establish online learning plans.
The closures came right before a week-long spring break for most school districts, giving them time to build their plans. The Idaho Statesman reached out to the communications departments from the state’s three largest school districts — Boise, West Ada and Nampa — on Monday and Tuesday to answer many questions we’ve heard from readers.
Here’s what we know about local schools’ plans so far.
How long will schools remain closed?
It’s too early to say.
Most school districts, including West Ada, Boise and Nampa, have targeted a March 30 return date. But the continued spread of the coronavirus puts that return date into question.
Ryan Hill, a spokesman for the Boise School District, said the district can’t make any decisions about an extended closure yet. But the district will make a decision by Friday, March 27, the final day of spring break.
“We will make that decision as early as we can given the best information possible,” Hill said. “Most critical information is changing day by day, if not hourly. A lot is going to depend on guidance from the CDC and our local health district, as well as feedback from our teachers and parents, and what the state education system is or isn’t willing to do for districts going through extended closures.”
The Mountain Home School District closed until March 30, too. But its superintendent, James Gilbert, warned parents, students and staff to prepare for a longer closure in a statement on the school district’s website.
“We are anticipating an extended closure of schools, possibly until the end of the school year,” Gilbert wrote.
Gov. Brad Little reiterated Wednesday he is not calling for mandatory school closures.
“Local leaders and operators of those facilities will make their own judgment calls about whether to do that,” Little said in a press conference. “Idaho is a very diverse and expansive state. A solution for one area might not be the solution for another part of the state.”
Where can I feed my children?
Many families rely on schools for their children’s meals. School closures put extra stress on them.
Idaho Foodbank locations remain open, and it has an online assistance locator to find your nearest location.
Boise Schools will also run food pantries with staples and nonperishable goods at six sites this week. Hill said their primary focus is for families in those schools, but they are open to the public.
The hours and sites are:
Wednesday: 10 a.m. to noon at Taft Elementary, Whitney Elementary and Frank Church High.
Thursday: 1 to 3 p.m. at Whittier, Morley Nelson and Garfield elementary schools.
Friday: 1 to 3 p.m. at Taft, Whitney and Frank Church.
The West Ada School District has put in a waiver to begin summer lunch meals starting March 30 if schools remain closed. West Ada spokesman Eric Exline said in an email the district is identifying where to distribute those meals.
The Nampa School District has started ramping up a plan to provide 5,000 lunches should its schools remain closed past March 30. It would distribute those lunches to the attendance zones of West Middle School and Centennial, Central, Endeavor, Iowa, Sherman, Snake River and Willow Creek elementary schools.
At least 64 percent of students at those eight schools come from low-income families, according to reports from the state education department.
The Caldwell School District, where most students come from low-income families, will offer free meals to all children under 18 regardless if they are a student in the district. It will distribute meals from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from school buses at the following locations:
All Caldwell elementary schools
Caldwell High School
Farmway Village by the community center
Hardy Estates
N. 5th Avenue and Galveston Street
N. 14th Avenue and Elgin Street
Avon Trailer Park at Summer Drive turnaround
W. Beech Street and Manchester Drive at the park
Country Village Avenue near the playground
Mountain View Mobile Home Park
Indian Creek Estates Mobile Home Park
The Boys & Girls Club is offering free, grab-and-go breakfasts and lunches from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on weekdays starting Thursday. No application is needed and children do not need to be a member of the club. Meals are available to children under 18, regardless of free-or-reduced lunch eligibility or where they attend school.
They are available at three drive-through locations.
- Riverfront Park in Garden City (next to the Boys & Girls Club of Ada County)
Meridian Elementary School (1035 NW 1st St.)
Boys & Girls Clubs of Nampa (316 Stampede Drive)
The following businesses and organizations are also offering free meals for students.
Andrade’s in Boise (4903 W. Overland Road)
Sofia’s Greek Bistro in Garden City (6748 N. Glenwood)
Big Box Outlet Store in Nampa (352 Caldwell Boulevard)
Eagle Christian Church in Eagle (100 S. Short Road)
A.J.’s Restaurant & Lounge in Mountain Home (1130 Highway 20)
How can I help?
Instead of donating food, cleaning products or clothes, the Boise and Nampa school districts encourage cash donations to their nonprofits to ensure they can purchase what they need.
You can donate at BoiseSchoolsFoundation.com and NampaSchoolsFoundation.org.
Will schoolwork continue online this week?
Not in Boise, West Ada or Nampa. Hill said Boise Schools can’t guarantee all students have equal access to online tools, so it will not require anyone to use them. He said families should instead focus on each other.
“Don’t worry about your math homework. Don’t worry about the schoolwork part of this,” Hill said. “We’ll figure out ways to help with this when appropriate. We want families to feel safe and secure.”
Nampa sent home laptops and iPads with students this week to prepare for online learning if school closures extend past March 30.
Will seniors graduate on time?
Again, it’s too early to say. The Boise, West Ada and Nampa school districts have not made any changes to their scheduled graduations yet at Boise State’s ExtraMile Arena or Nampa’s Ford Idaho Center.
Idaho requires a minimum number of school hours. School calendars build in extra days to allow for snow days and other emergency closures.
The Treasure Valley’s warm winter ensured schools haven’t exhausted those extra days yet. But an extended school closure could soon overwhelm that cushion.
Schools could choose to extend the school year to make up for those days. Or they could plead their case to the State Board of Education, which has the authority to waive the minimum number of instructional hours in an emergency.
Nampa spokeswoman Kathleen Tuck said the district has told its students they will have a graduation of some sort.
“What we have told our students is we will celebrate it,” Tuck said. “If we have to change the date, we will. But we are not planning on it. We are being optimistic.”
Will there be a prom?
Not in the Boise or West Ada school districts. Boise canceled its proms Tuesday afternoon and West Ada followed Wednesday.
Nampa Schools has not made a decision on their proms yet, Tuck said.
What about statewide testing?
The Idaho State Department of Education has postponed or extended the windows for statewide tests.
The state extended the window for students to take the Idaho Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) until May 29. Paper test materials were scheduled to arrive at schools next week, but the education department has postponed those deliveries until schools reopen.
The date for Idaho students to take the SAT was delayed from April 14 to April 28. A nationally scheduled May 2 testing date was canceled with the next date planned for June 6.
And the ACT rescheduled its April 4 national test day to June 13. It also has a national test date on July 18.
When will high school sports return?
The Idaho High School Activities Association suspended all of its sports and activities, including practices, until April 6 across the state.
Games can start as early as April 6. But three athletic directors in the 5A and 4A Southern Idaho Conferences told the Idaho Statesman on Tuesday they will hold one week of practices before restarting games and meets.
Games and events can start April 11. The only exception is golf, which can start hosting events April 6.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
