Muncie Schools Making Tens Of Thousands Of Meals For Students During Closure

Muncie Community Schools says it’s making 35,000 meals on some days to feed district students even while they’re learning from home. 

In a video announcement on Tuesday, Muncie Community Schools CEO Lee Ann Kwiatkowski says food is still rolling out of closed school buildings as much as it’s able to.

“Yesterday, unfortunately, we ran out of food," Kwiatkowski says. "And, so, we served 35,000 meals yesterday. And next week on Monday, we will make more food than that.  We want to make sure we have enough food for all the families that come to pick it up.”

Chartwells, the food preparation contractor for MCS, says more than 80 percent of students use the free and reduced lunch program during the regular school year.  Delaware County, which includes Muncie, also has the lowest median family income in the entire state.

The district is serving meals two ways.  Students are able to pick up daily breakfast and lunch at four sites in the district – Longfellow Elementary School, Northside and Southside Middle Schools, and Central High School.   MCS is also using buses with coolers to drop off five days of breakfasts and lunches weekly at 22 sites in the city.

Schools across Indiana are closed until May 1.  Kwiatkowski says MCS is preparing for the return of those students to the classrooms by deep-cleaning each building, but says she knows that date could be extended.