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One On One
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Emily Hanlin, executive director of food & nutrition services for Cobb County Schools in Georgia, explains how Cobb County is adjusting with new USDA waivers.

One On One With: Feeding K-12 students during the school year

The USDA recently extended meal waivers, allowing schools to continue to provide meals to students who may not choose to attend school when it resumes in-person learning. Emily Hanlin, executive director of food & nutrition services for Cobb County Schools in Georgia, explains her district’s reopening plans amid the news.

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Georgia has been in the news since early August when some K-12 school districts returned to school and were immediately closed as hundreds of coronavirus cases were confirmed during the first few weeks of in-person learning. Cobb County Georgia, the suburban county next to Atlanta, was not one of those districts because the district’s superintendent selected not to resume in-person classes until the county’s infection rate is 200 cases per 100,000 people.

Now, that threshold has been met, and the district will reopen schools Oct. 5 for optional in-person learning barring any rise in cases of COVID-19. But, thanks to the USDA, students remaining at home to remote learn can still receive their meals on Wednesdays in Cobb County.

The USDA reversed its earlier position on meal waivers and decided to extend summer meal flexibilities through Dec. 31, 2020, altering plans districts were making to live without the flexibility of the waivers.

For Emily Hanlin, executive director of food & nutrition services for Cobb County Schools, that means looking at the program’s offerings, including a mobile preorder app that had caused some issues with Spanish-speaking families.

Listen to the full podcast to hear how Cobb County is reopening schools and the district’s plan for the rest of the year.

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Contact Holly at [email protected]

Find her on Twitter @hollypetre

TAGS: K-12 Schools
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