By TOMMY REZAC and MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The St. Joseph School District is cancelling classes for the remainder of this week due to ongoing staff shortages related to COVID-19 and other illnesses.
"When you don't have enough people to transport a kid to school, and you don't have enough folks to be able to educate your kids in the classroom, it just seems to be a pretty straight forward decision that we have to do something else," School Superintendent Doug Van Zyl tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "And right now, that is to not have school these next two days, and hopefully give people the opportunity to get healthy and get back into the classroom for us."
There is no remote learning the rest of the week, either. Virtual Academy classes will proceed with their normal schedules.
St. Joseph Public Schools hasn't been in session all week. After a planned day off for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Monday, the district called off classes both Tuesday and Wednesday with the hopes of reopening Thursday.
As many as 50 staffers were absent at the start of the week due to COVID-19 and other illnesses. The district has also cited a lack of bus drivers.
The safety of our students and staff is our top priority," the district said in a release Wednesday. "Unfortunately, we continue to see an increasing number of staff members who are not able to report to work due to illness. We will keep you updated over the weekend about our schedule next week as we continue to evaluate our situation."
The district is helping families by providing meals for students, offering two breakfasts and two lunches for pick-up on Thursday. Meals can be picked up at Benton, Central and Lafayette from 10 a.m. - noon.
Meal delivery is also available to families who need it. Meal orders can be placed by calling the closest high school. Calls need to be placed Thursday morning between 8 and 9:30.
"You know a lot of our families do subsidize some of their meals, I guess is the right way to say it, because they have the ability to get help and support through the school district, which I think a lot of our families appreciate," Van Zyl says. "So, we're just trying to help support our kids and our families by providing that opportunity for them."
Contact information and delivery information for the schools for meals is as follows.
Date: Thursday, January 20
Time to Order: 8am to 9:30am
Time to Pick Up: 10am to 12pm
Where:
Benton: 816-671-4030 - pick up at the south side door of the building
Central: 816-671-4080 - pick up at the door on the north side of the building.
Lafayette: 816-671-4220 - pick up at the back parking lot by the dock.
*Delivery times cannot be guaranteed and will be made throughout the day. Please indicate where deliveries should be dropped off (front porch, side door, etc.) when you call to order.*