STOCKDALE – In the city of Stockdale that’s located about 40 miles southeast of San Antonio, school bus routes remain active. Although all schools in the Stockdale Independent School District remain closed due to the novel coronavirus, administration and staff continue to work to feed their students.
Breakfast and lunch are prepared at Stockdale Elementary School by the child nutrition department that’s made up of seven people.
The first food distribution took place on Monday with one pick-up point. According to Stockdale Superintendent Daniel Fuller, 24 meals were handed out at no cost. Soon after, the school board realized there was a much greater need.
“Coaches, principals (and) even my wife got a food handler certificate last night to meet the needs,” Fuller said.
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The Stockdale ISD board created four bus routes that cover the majority of the district. Bus drivers like Johnny Soto have been assigned to drop-off meals to anyone inside Stockdale city limits that are under the age of 18.
“Yeah, it’s not what we normally do, but I think the district is handling it really well,” Soto said.
Soto is in charge of bus route number one that covers the smallest radius of the district. His first stop was at Nora Mercado’s home.
“No, I didn’t expect all of this. It’s a blessing,” Mercado said. Mercado is a mom of two and is grateful for the administration and staff that have stepped up to feed children.
“We have bus drivers on each bus. We have a food handler-certified person handing the food to families,” Fuller said.
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On Friday morning, meals were delivered to more than 800 students and according to Fuller, that number is expected to increase as long as COVID-19 safety measures remain in place.
“We have 830 students that we serve,” Fuller said. “We’ve recruited dozens of people that will come in to help load buses, help throw trash and deliver food.”
Stockdale ISD is still taking names for future delivery dates and plans to add a fifth bus route. According to Fuller, beginning next week, the Department of Agriculture has allowed Stockdale ISD to deliver breakfast and lunch at the same time.
To request meals to be delivered, email the district at covid19@stockdaleisd.org with your name, address and the number of individuals 18 years old and younger. To learn more about Stockdale ISD’s COVID-19 safety measures, click here.
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March.
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