Macon County students can count on a few more weeks of free meals.
On May 2, the North Carolina House of Representatives ratified House Bill 1043, which funneled $1.6 billion worth of CARES Act funds into various organizations around the state for COVID-19 relief.
One aspect of the funding was $75 million for school nutrition programs, which have worked since schools were shut down in March to keep feeding students who depend on school cafeterias from a distance. Gov. Roy Cooper signed the bill along with several others in early May in hopes of encouraging bipartisan support for comprehensive relief efforts.
Macon County Schools is due to receive $244,194 for school nutrition purposes. However, school administrators didn’t learn until May 21 that it all had to be spent between March 16 and June 30, meaning that the school system would have to work quickly to maximize the value.
School finance director Angie Cook said that the school’s meal delivery program, which had been briefly suspended for the summer, would be reinstated as of June 1.
“Macon County Schools plans to continue the delivery of meals for the month of June to provide as much support to our community as possible and effectively use the funding for its intended purpose,” Cook said.
Macon County Schools will receive a total of $1,087,419 in CARES Act funding over the next two years. While child nutrition will take up a portion of that money, significant portions will also be spent on personal protective gear, custodial supplies, and equipment and professional training for teachers that will help facilitate remote learning in the event of another extended school closure. Superintendent Chris Baldwin said Macon County Schools will budget these funds carefully to make sure that they will be available in an emergency for years to come, regardless of what kind of additional help comes from the state or federal government.
“We have budgeted these resources with the understanding that our school system may be dealing with the current pandemic during the 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years,” Baldwin said. “If our facilities are closed once due to an outbreak of the virus and professionally cleaned and disinfected, the cost would be approximately $100,000. Additional closures would obviously increase this cost. We do anticipate the need to reallocate funding within the budget as priorities change over the next 24 months.”
Busses will run their meal delivery routes every weekday in June from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will provide meals to any child under age 18. Meals can also be picked up on site at South Macon Elementary School, Mountain View Intermediate School, Iotla Valley Elementary School, Franklin High School, Nantahala School and Highlands School.