LCSD Perseverance and Meal Delivery Marvels

Every Student… Every Classroom… Every Day.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 19, 2020

LCSD Perseverance and Meal Delivery Marvels

Lyon County, NV, March 19, 2020 –

In what has been a fast-paced and ever-changing few months for the world since the outbreak of Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China, the most commotion to the Lyon County School District (LCSD) has come in only the past few weeks.  On March 10, 2020, LCSD was the third county in the state to restrict district-sponsored out-of-state and international travel for staff and students, a difficult decision that was made out of an abundance of caution for the students, staff and communities in Lyon County.  A few days later on March 13, 2020, LCSD in collaboration with other counties in Nevada made another difficult decision to preserve the safety of its students, staff and communities and all school events were cancelled until further notice.  Not far behind, the Nevada Governor’s office then announced the mandated closure of schools on March 15, 2020 and closure of non-essential businesses in the state on March 17, 2020.

Yet, in spite of all of the chaos, uncertainty and fluidity of this pandemic, LCSD has never looked stronger.  LCSD has and continues to meet the needs of the children in our communities.  Education professionals have been hard at work this week designing creative learning opportunities for students.  The situation at home looks different for every student and LCSD educators are creating opportunities to meet these diverse needs and communicating with their students to not only ensure they continue to have access to learning, but more importantly to provide a sense of stability and certainty to help comfort them.  Many of the opportunities available to staff and students during this time are made possible by the past and ongoing advancements made by the LCSD IT department and the flexible curriculum opportunities that have been rolling out in LCSD over the past few years.

Supervisors, managers, administrators and office staff continue to provide leadership, information and stability in a time where they themselves may be searching for more answers.  The maintenance and custodial staff preemptively prepared far behind any closure for an enhanced effort in the cleaning of LCSD schools.  During this closure they are performing deep cleaning followed by disinfection to prepare schools for the return of students and staff and to ensure the safety of everyone.

LCSD staff in all roles and capacities are going above and beyond and perhaps one of the most incredible examples of their commitment to students is the meal delivery miracle taking place every morning.  School closures were announced on March 15, 2020, and in less than 48 hours, LCSD nutrition services had paired up with LCSD transportation services to deliver over 2,300 total breakfast and lunch meals to the children in our communities on Tuesday, March 17, 2020 – that number jumped to 3700 total meals on Wednesday.  The coordination of this ongoing tremendous effort was made possible by the partnership of these two departments but also by the other LCSD staff members who would normally be in very different positions – this truly has been an all hands on deck effort. 

All food is on its way to students by 9AM every day.  To make this possible, nutrition services must have all breakfast and lunch meals prepared, packaged and separated so that each bus has the quantity it needs by 8:30AM.  Then the team of LCSD staff load the meals onto the buses and paraprofessional educators jump onboard to help transportation make their routes.  At each bus stop, transportation counts the number of meals served while the paraprofessionals hand out meals, and more importantly, interact with the kids to make sure they know LCSD is there to support them.  Upon completion and return to the bus yard, transportation disinfects their buses twice a day to ensure the quality and safety of staff, meals and students.

Director of Business Services, Harman Bains, states, “This has been a unique challenge but everyone involved understands the importance of providing food security during times of uncertainty and is determined to make it work.”  He explains that each day has provided its own challenge.  On the first day, it was communication. There are a number of kids who have food allergies and predicting what route they would be at on the first day was unknown; therefore, in order to serve them, the bus driver who encountered a food allergy on their route contacted their area coordinators who then contacted nutrition services in the kitchen. The kitchen prepared the unique meal and sent it out to the area coordinator who delivered to the student.  On the second day, it was the volume. The LCSD team were expecting, and to an extent had planned for more children to be waiting for meals. The second day saw a volume spike of nearly 1400 meals.  However, in spite of the hurdles and challenges, every child that has sought out a meal from LCSD has received it.  Superintendent Wayne Workman expresses his gratitude to all of his staff, “It warms my heart to see how all members of the LCSD family have and continue to meet the needs of the children in our communities.”

In just a matter of two days, LCSD has drilled down to the minute the buses will arrive at each stop.  “Being able to provide our families the information to know when they should expect to be served has been a huge accomplishment – we never want kids waiting outside longer than they need to,” says Bains. 

He continues, “School closures are announced Sunday afternoon and food is on its way to students on Tuesday morning.  This has everything to do with our LCSD team members and their understanding that these are unprecedented times – that the challenge in front of us was going to require patience, flexibility and more dedication than ever. Planning for this began with both Huong Lam, LCSD Nutrition Services Supervisor, and Bonita Stevens, LCSD Transportation Supervisor, Sunday night immediately after the Governor’s notice of school closures and everyone involved was willing to do whatever it took to provide our kids with meals and food security.”

LCSD schools are scheduled to welcome students back on April 13, 2020.  During this time, LCSD continues to collaborate with officials on a regular basis and hopes to welcome all of its students back as soon as we are able.  The school district’s website www.lyoncsd.org will continue to provide updates and information on its page dedicated to COVID-19, via email for staff and Infinite Campus (IC) for families.

Our vision… Graduate all students to be successful in college and career.

Our Mission… Provide relevant learning opportunities that develop adaptable, persistent and self-directed learners capable of creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking necessary to overcome complex challenges.

Every Student… Every Classroom… Every Day…

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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Erika Cowger at ecowger@lyoncsd.org.