Avoyelles Parish School Board

APSB suspends Food Services until further notice

A conference call was held last night with representatives from
the Governor's Office, the Louisiana
Department of Education and state superintendents. All facets of the school food service program were
discussed. The issue is not whether feeding students is important. We all agree that it is. At the same
time, staff and employee safety must also be considered.

In one week alone, through the efforts of our dedicated employees and volunteers, we have fed more
students than we do in the entire summer. While this program is important, we must consider the safety and well-being of our employees. Not only is there a shortage of adequate protective gear such as gloves, face masks and thermometers, but we have no idea who may or may not have been exposed to the COVID-19 at this time.

Accordingly, given the shortage of these supplies and to protect both our employees and those who are consuming the provided meals, our school system is suspending these services until further notice.

The state did inform us that they are working with the National Guard and other entities to possibly have their own feeding program up an running by next week.