The Santa Fe Public School District doesn't generally provide meals over the holidays. But this spring break, the district will provide free breakfast and lunch at drive-up stations. The plan comes thanks to an emergency action by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to provide schools with extra food in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Superintendent Veronica Garcia announced late Sunday.
Free "grab-and-go" bags will be available at a handful of schools from 7:30 to 8:30 am for breakfast and from 11:45 am to 12:45 pm starting this week.
Any student under 18 is eligible to pick up a meal at any of the locations, even if they don't attend the school. Garcia says the district will continue providing free meals throughout the mandated school closures declared last week as an effort to curb the rapidly spreading virus. The schools are scheduled to reopen on April 6.
Garcia asks families to stay in their cars when they arrive to pick up locations and notes that the district will only provide one meal to each child present in the car.
"I commend [SFPS] Deputy Superintendent Kristy Wagner and her General Services team who swiftly jumped into action all day Sunday to ensure that we would be ready to serve our students on Monday morning," Garcia says in her statement issued Sunday around 8:45 pm. She notes the district didn't get confirmation deliveries would be available until the evening.
Here's where students can pick up a free meal on weekdays through the school closure period:
- Aspen Community School
- Capital High School
- Chaparral Elementary School
- Kearney Elementary School
- Ramirez Thomas Elementary School
- Santa Fe High School
- Sweeney Elementary School
