Tuesday, March 17, 2020 | 7:22 AM
Fox Chapel Area students who receive free or reduced priced lunches can get a week’s worth of food during the mandated statewide school closures related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Fox Chapel Area students who receive free or reduced-price lunches can get a week’s worth of food during the mandated statewide school closures related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Grab-and-go style distributions will be scattered throughout the district at sites in Blawnox, Indiana Township, O’Hara and Sharpsburg.
Times are 9 to 10:30 a.m. and 5 to 6:30 p.m. March 18, at Hartwood Elementary School, 3730 Saxonburg Boulevard, Indiana Township and at Kerr Elementary, 341 Kittanning Pike, O’Hara.
On March 19, distributions continue from 9 to 10:30 a.m. and 3 to 4:30 p.m. at John Paul I Pastoral Center, 201 9th Street, Sharpsburg; and 9 to 10:30 a.m. and 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Blawnox Volunteer Fire Company, 376 Freeport Road, Blawnox.
The effort is aimed at helping families during the school closure scheduled through April 12.
Gov. Tom Wolf on March 13 ordered all Pennsylvania K-12 schools to close for at least 10 business days to help thwart the spread of the virus. He said schools are permitted to hand out food to low-income families to help bridge the gap.
In Pennsylvania, 885,000 children, or about half of the state’s students, qualified for the National School Lunch Program, according to Kids Count’s data center.
At Fox Chapel Area, about 800 of the 4,000 district students, or 20 percent, receive free or reduced-price lunches.
Several neighboring districts are following suit, with food hand-outs planned in Plum, Riverview and Shaler.
As of Tuesday, there were six reported cases of coronavirus in Allegheny County, with at least 76 in the state.
Wolf has ordered all Allegheny County bars and restaurants to suspend dine-in services for 14 days, as well as closures of nonessential retail, including malls, bars and restaurants to help stem the virus spread.
Officials will re-evaluate after 10 days to decide whether schools should remain closed.
Fox Chapel Area students began online instruction today, with electronic devices and/or Wi-Fi hotspots distributed to students who need them.
Elementary school students will use Google Classroom and Clever; secondary students will utilize Schoology and Clever.
For more information, visit fcasd.edu/online-tools
