GEORGETOWN The school districts in Williamson County that are closed through early April to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus will still provide free meals to students in need, County Judge Bill Gravell announced Tuesday.
“Every kid in Williamson County starting on Monday will be provided breakfast and lunch in some form through one of our school districts,” Gravell said at a news conference.
Details on the free meals were not released, but the public was urged to check school districts websites for updates.
Williamson County had no confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Tuesday morning, he said.
“We have been forward leaning on making decisions that are important to protect our community,” Gravelll said.
He also said the county is working to set up free day cares for county employees.
The news conference outside the Williamson County Courthouse included superintendents from the Round Rock, Leander, Georgetown, Hutto, Taylor, Liberty Hill and Jarrell school districts. They all said students would be provided with online learning while classes are canceled.
“This is an opportunity that we know that provides for a more innovative way to instruct our students,” said Superintendent Steve Flores of the Round Rock school district, which has 51,000 students.
Most of the high school and middle school students have iPads from the schools, but elementary students do not, Flores said. He said the district is working to determine which students do not have access to the internet in their homes.
One in four students in the district qualify for free meals, Flores said. He said the district would provide curbside service for the breakfasts and lunches. Information will be released Wednesday on the district’s website about the meal service, he said.
Gravell also said that at his request, the closed school districts are helping Williamson County by providing 15 nurses to the county’s health district and five mechanics to help repair county vehicles, including ambulances.
The school districts that use resource officers from the sheriff’s office agreed to have those officers start working Monday at the sheriff’s office while classes are canceled, Gravell said.
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