Cobb schools to provide weekly prepaid student meal pickups

After several months of working with MUST Ministries to distribute food to students in need, the Cobb County School District said Wednesday it will continue to provide student breakfasts and lunches as a new school year begins.CCSD logo, Cobb 2018-19 school calendar

Starting the first day of school on Aug. 17, parents will be able to pick up a week’s worth of prepaid meal kits. The kits will have items that can be reheated, and will come with instructions and a menu.

Those breakfasts and lunches will be available to any student in the district, and food distribution will take place each Monday from 4-6 p.m. for those families who have signed up online.

In order to do that, visit the district’s MyPaymentsPlus Page, which will be open every Tuesday starting on Aug. 11 to process orders. The deadline to purchase meals for the following week is Thursdays at 12 p.m.

The district is saying local schools will not be involved in this process at all, and that all orders must be made online.

Here’s the pricing for the meal kits, which include five breakfasts and five lunches per student, based on the program each student qualifies for:

  • Free = No charge for weekly meal kit
  • Reduced-Priced = $3.67 per week
  • Paid = $23.99 per week

If you’re a family that hasn’t applied for free and reduced-price benefits you need to click here to get more information.

To sign up for MyPaymentsPlus click here to create an account, which is free and is available on a desktop or mobile app.

Parents can choose during the ordering process the location they want to pick up the food, and they can designate one school if they have children attending different schools. Students do not have to be present for the distribution.

At the pickup locations you’ll have to provide confirmation information and their child’s student ID number. The food will be placed by Cobb schools food staffers in the trunk or backseat of a vehicle.

Cobb schools said family dinner pick-up options may be coming soon.

For information e-mail meals@cobbk12.org or call 770-426-3380.

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Change in Cobb schools meals distribution for Memorial Day

Earlier this month the Cobb County School District said it would continue providing weekday student meals through the month of June.Cobb County School District, Cobb schools dual enrollment summit

Since the district closed to in-person classes in mid-March, those breakfasts and lunches have been given out each Monday.

But with this Monday being Memorial Day, the district said next week’s food will be distributed on Tuesday, May 26, from 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and will be provided for four days, through next Friday.

The joint effort with MUST Ministries has changed some distribution points, but East Cobb Middle School will continue to be one of those venues, as it has from the beginning.

The Cobb school district food and nutrition staff prepares the meals, which have been sent to eight schools for pickup.

The CCSD says it has provided 141,000 breakfasts and 176,00 lunches since the week of March 16, and anticipates serving 225,000 more meals through the end of June.

Funding has come through the federal school lunch program and MUST volunteers have been at the schools to make the deliveries.

Each student who needs meals (pre-K through recent graduates under 18, and newcomers) must be present for the food to be distributed via a drive-thru pickup, with participants and volunteers observing social distancing guidelines.

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Cobb schools to provide student meals for rest of school year

New East Cobb Middle School

Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced Thursday that the Cobb County School District is working with MUST Ministries to provide breakfasts and lunches to any students who need them for the rest of the school year.

During a teleconferenced school board work session, Ragsdale said that students may pick up a week’s worth of those meals each Monday, starting this coming Monday, March 23, at one of eight schools in the district, including East Cobb Middle School.

Only the student will be provided the food, and each student must be present to receive the meals. Ragsdale said students will not have to show their IDs.

The meals will be prepared by the school district’s food services staff, and MUST Ministries volunteers will deliver the food boxes on a drive-through basis in front of the school buildings.

The pickup times are from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at the following locations:

  • Acworth Elementary School (4220 Cantrell Road, Acworth)
  • Bryant Elementary School (6800 Factory Shoals Road, Mableton)
  • Campbell HS (5265 Ward Street, Smyrna)
  • Compton Elementary School (3450 New Macland Road, Powder Springs)
  • East Cobb Middle School (825 Terrell Mill Road, Marietta)
  • Garrett Middle School (5235 Austell-Powder Springs Road, Austell)
  • Osborne High (2451 Favor Road, Marietta)
  • Riverside Intermediate School (285 South Gordon Road, Mableton)

Those schools have more than 50 percent of their students receiving reduced or free lunches.

Future pickups will continue to take place each Monday at those same locations and during those same hours.

Cobb and other public school districts and universities in Georgia are closed until March 31 at the order of Gov. Brian Kemp.

During Thursday’s work session, there was no discussion about how long the closures may last beyond that.

But Cobb school officials are clearly preparing for it to be much longer.

Later Thursday the school board was being asked to spend $3.4 million from the general fund to pay after-school program and nutritional workers and substitute teachers through the end of May, when the Cobb academic year ends.

As for the upcoming student meal provisions, Ragsdale said Cobb schools food service workers will be in kitchens with 10 or fewer people, per CDC guidelines on social distancing. MUST volunteers will pick up the food at the cafeteria doors, then provide them to students curbside.

Volunteers for the school meal program are needed, and you can sign up here on the MUST Ministries website.

The food service program is a continuation of a partnership between Cobb schools and MUST Ministries, which have set up times for special family food boxes to be picked this week at several locations.

That food comes from 29 school pantries, which were open starting Wednesday.

On Friday, those needing food may come by the following locations in East Cobb between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.:

  • Brumby ES (815 Terrell Mill Road);
  • Lassiter HS (2601 Shallowford Road);
  • McCleskey MS (4080 Maybreeze Road);
  • Sprayberry HS (2525 Sandy Plains Road);
  • Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church (4385 Lower Roswell Road).

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