Special to El Rrun-Rrun
Thank heaven that the superintendent and the board members of the Brownsville Independent School District have regained their sense and are reconsidering the suspension of distributing school meals to the district's needy children.
The Brownsville Herald reported that at the meeting Superintendent Rene Gutierrez said BISD could soon resume distributing school meals at 12 locations around the city, likely on a twice-a-week basis. BISD had been distributing breakfast and lunch meals to students from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. since March 23, the day BISD kept its schools closed for extended Spring Break.
The district stopped distributing the meals on Tuesday but is coordinating with city authorities so that people picking up meals don’t receive police citations. Brownsville and Cameron County remain under shelter-in-place orders to slow the spread the virus.
BISD found itself in a 22-Catch situation, on the one hand wanting to provide badly needed meals and on the other not wanting to violate shelter-in-place orders issued by Cameron County nd adopted by the City of Brownsville.
The local daily reported that at the board meeting Tuesday afternoon, superintendent Gutierrez stated he is reconsidering the mo suspension.
“The meal program has been a very difficult decision for me,” he told the board. “We have postponed the meal program. … We’re evaluating every day … it hurts me to see kids not get meals. I’m reconsidering.”
“How do you turn someone down,” Gutierrez asked, pointing out that the meals are available to anyone 18 or younger. “We need to get together with the county judge and the city mayor. It’s not our doing, it’s the USDA. The food pantries are running low and a lot of the parents do not have SNAP benefits.”
Thank heaven that the superintendent and the board members of the Brownsville Independent School District have regained their sense and are reconsidering the suspension of distributing school meals to the district's needy children.
The Brownsville Herald reported that at the meeting Superintendent Rene Gutierrez said BISD could soon resume distributing school meals at 12 locations around the city, likely on a twice-a-week basis. BISD had been distributing breakfast and lunch meals to students from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. since March 23, the day BISD kept its schools closed for extended Spring Break.
The district stopped distributing the meals on Tuesday but is coordinating with city authorities so that people picking up meals don’t receive police citations. Brownsville and Cameron County remain under shelter-in-place orders to slow the spread the virus.
BISD found itself in a 22-Catch situation, on the one hand wanting to provide badly needed meals and on the other not wanting to violate shelter-in-place orders issued by Cameron County nd adopted by the City of Brownsville.
The local daily reported that at the board meeting Tuesday afternoon, superintendent Gutierrez stated he is reconsidering the mo suspension.
“The meal program has been a very difficult decision for me,” he told the board. “We have postponed the meal program. … We’re evaluating every day … it hurts me to see kids not get meals. I’m reconsidering.”
“How do you turn someone down,” Gutierrez asked, pointing out that the meals are available to anyone 18 or younger. “We need to get together with the county judge and the city mayor. It’s not our doing, it’s the USDA. The food pantries are running low and a lot of the parents do not have SNAP benefits.”