Remote once more: Lansing schools pass out laptops, lunch amid COVID-19 surge

Mark Johnson, Lansing State Journal
·2 min read
Riddle Elementary School cafeteria workers Jeannie DeLong-Jackson, right, and Cynthia Trainor prepare to-go meals for students Wednesday morning, Jan. 5, 2022, at Riddle's cafeteria. Each school has pre-determined times when food and computers can be picked up for the following week of remote classes.
Riddle Elementary School cafeteria workers Jeannie DeLong-Jackson, right, and Cynthia Trainor prepare to-go meals for students Wednesday morning, Jan. 5, 2022, at Riddle's cafeteria. Each school has pre-determined times when food and computers can be picked up for the following week of remote classes.

LANSING — Watching her children learn on Chromebooks from home while their schools are closed is an all too familiar scene for Jasmine Flowers.

As COVID-19 cases surge due in part to the highly contagious omicron variant, Lansing School District is once again sending students home to learn remotely — including four of Flowers' children.

After picking up laptops Wednesday, Flowers spent the afternoon with her children, including twin first graders, a second grader and a preschooler as they did their school work remotely. She has two more children at home who aren’t yet old enough to go to school.

All the while, she was trying to finish her own homework for online courses through the University of Phoenix.

The full house was “a plus as well as a minus," Flowers said.

Riddle Elementary School cafeteria worker Cynthia Trainor passes out to-go meals to a parent for her stay-at-home remote-learning student Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 5, 2022, outside Riddle's cafeteria. Schools in the district are currently conducting classes online due to COVID-19 through at least the end of the week.
Riddle Elementary School cafeteria worker Cynthia Trainor passes out to-go meals to a parent for her stay-at-home remote-learning student Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 5, 2022, outside Riddle's cafeteria. Schools in the district are currently conducting classes online due to COVID-19 through at least the end of the week.

“It’s a plus because I have a lot of one-on-one time to see where they’re lacking at,” she said. “(It's a) minus with them being in different classes trying to stay on path with their teachers as well as me having my own online class and two minor children at home.”

Lansing School District announced Saturday it would return from the winter holiday break remotely “out of an abundance of caution,” according to a press release. As of now, students are expected to return for in-person learning on Monday.

Jeannie Delong-Jackson, an employee of SodexoMAGIC, which handles food services for Lansing School District, worked at Riddle Elementary distributing meals to families on Monday and Wednesday.

Riddle Elementary School cafeteria workers Jeannie DeLong-Jackson, right, and Cynthia Trainor prepare to-go meals for students Wednesday morning, Jan. 5, 2022, at Riddle's cafeteria. Each school has pre-determined times when food and computers can be picked up during the following week of remote classes.
Riddle Elementary School cafeteria workers Jeannie DeLong-Jackson, right, and Cynthia Trainor prepare to-go meals for students Wednesday morning, Jan. 5, 2022, at Riddle's cafeteria. Each school has pre-determined times when food and computers can be picked up during the following week of remote classes.

It’s been quiet at Riddle, one of the school district’s smaller schools at less than 200 students, with just over 60 meals distributed between Monday and Wednesday.

“It’s kinds of heartbreaking that we don’t have the kids in the building,” she said. “But to be able to keep the kids safe and provide them a meal is amazing.”

Contact Mark Johnson at 517-377-1026 or at majohnson2@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByMarkJohnson.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing schools pass out laptops, lunch amid COVID-19 surge