County school provides COVID-19 safe meals for students

MORGAN COUNTY, Ala. (WAFF) - Thousands of children here in the Tennessee Valley rely on their school for daily meals.

In Morgan County, they’re working to provide nutritious, sanitary meals to students.

At Falkville elementary, middle and high schools, the same cafeteria workers provide breakfast and lunch for the more than 500 students.

“We start at 5:30 in the morning,” Becky Dabbs said.

Dabbs, head of the child nutrition program at Falkville says, getting healthy, sanitary meals to all students is critical.

“Some students, the lunch that they eat here is probably the last meal they have until they come back to school in the morning,” Dabbs said.

Since the pandemic started, Dabbs and her team cook the meals, package them, and safely distribute them to students.

“Last year we would come in here at different times and we would come grade by grade and we could sit beside each other, but now that COVID’s coming, we have to spread out everywhere,” Jaxon Stringer said.

Stringer, a fifth grade student at Falkville Middle says, his class mostly eats outside, socially distanced. Younger children still eat in the cafeteria, but spread out.

Teachers tell me the students have just gotten used to it. This process of sealing up lunches remains until the foreseeable future.

“For the safety of our students, and our own safety,” Dabbs said.

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