The U.S. Department of Agriculture will allow all public schools in Alabama to provide food for students during the mandatory coronavirus (COVID-19) closures, according to a congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives.
U.S. Congressman from Alabama Robert Alderholt tweeted on Sunday that the USDA granted Alabama a waiver for the National School Lunch Act congregate feeding requirement to let schools keep feeding students.
This will allow schools to continue to feed students even though schools are closed. It will be up to individual school systems to determine if and how they will administer the student feeding.
— Robert Aderholt (@Robert_Aderholt) March 15, 2020
“This will allow schools to continue to feed students even though schools are closed,” Alderholt said in a tweet. “It will be up to individual school systems to determine if and how they will administer the student feeding.”
Alderholt said the waiver is in effect immediately and will continue through June 30, 2020.
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Governor Kay Ivey declared a state of emergency in Alabama on Friday and announced that public schools will be closed for 2.5 weeks. The closure is set to go into effect at the end of Wednesday, March 18.
The announcement came hours after Alabama confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on Maxwell Air Force Base.
State Superintendent Eric Mackey said they plan to reopen on Monday, April 6, but will reassess the situation in the final week of March.
