MDE COVID-19 Guidance to Districts as of April 13, 2020

Covid-19 Updates for Districts

Parent Pick-up of Meals
USDA recognizes that in this public health emergency, continuing to require children to come to the meal site to pick up meals may not be practical and in keeping with the goal of providing meals while also taking appropriate safety measures. As such, parents may be allowed to pick up meals without children present upon OCN approval of the District/organization plan for distributing meals.

Each district/organization must provide a description of their system and how it will ensure that:

  1. Meals are only distributed to parents or guardians of eligible children
  2. Duplicate meals are not distributed to any child.

In consultation with USDA, this will require some type of roster system with the names of parents(s)/guardian(s) and the associated eligible children. To assist, OCN has provided a sample Parent Pick Up Waiver Form.

Each of the forms and applications mentioned above are posted on the Child Nutrition website: https://www.mdek12.org/OCN

Please contact OCN for additional information or support. Again, please forward questions to Charles Crawford mailto:ccrawford@mdek12.orgso that we may respond as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Webinar
The MDE will host a webinar on Tuesday, April 14, at 10 a.m. to provide an overview of the federal CARES Act. The webinar will focus on the Education Stabilization Fund and the waivers offered to states by the United States Department of Education (ED). This webinar will be of particular interest to superintendents, business managers, federal programs directors, school improvement directors, special education directors, and CTE directors. To register for this webinar, please click here. The MDE has not yet received final guidance or funds from ED regarding the implementation of the CARES Act.

District Learning-at-Home Plan
Thank you, superintendents, for submitting your districts’ Learning-at-Home plans. Your plans show that districts and teachers are making a great effort to ensure learning is taking place.

Do You Have Questions for MDE?
Please check the MDE COVID-19 Information webpage before emailing your questions to MDE staff. We regularly add guidance, answers to questions and links to our daily update email. Daily updates are posted in the Administrator News section of the EdUpdate.