Some Wake parents are upset that COVID rules mean students sit on the floor to eat lunch
Some Wake County elementary school students are eating their meals on the floor as a result of new district COVID safety rules that went into effect when they returned for in-person classes this week.
The Wake County school system instituted rules such as requiring students to be at least 6 feet apart during meals, to all sit facing the same direction and to not talk while they’re eating. At Salem Elementary School in Apex, some kindergarten, first-grade and second-grade classrooms are so small that students are sitting on the floor eating on lap desks, according to Lisa Luten, a district spokeswoman.
“The younger kids read on the floor,” Luten said in an interview Friday. “They also picnic on the floor. It’s something they’ve been using lately to stay 6 feet apart.
“Our new guidelines are pretty explicit about making sure kids stay separate when they’re eating.”
Luten didn’t know how many other Wake schools might also have students eat on the floor.
But Rachael Ayscue, a Wake County parent and frequent critic of the district, tweeted Thursday that she is hearing about multiple schools using this practice.
“@WCPSS have you forgotten basic human dignity?” Ayscue tweeted. “Lost your minds? Letting schools run amok with insanity?! STOP THIS!”
Wake County Parents for Open Schools, a public Facebook group, has urged people to complain about the lunch practices to school board members, to North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and to State Superintendent Catherine Truitt.
COVID concerns during meal time
Breakfast and lunch pose health concerns for spreading COVID-19 because they’re among the few times in the school day when students and school employees are allowed to remove their face masks.
The Wake County school system traced a COVID-19 cluster at Lynn Road Elementary School in Raleigh to meal time.
In Orange County, students are expected to eat school meals outdoors unless it’s pouring rain and there’s no shelter, it’s snowing or temperatures are below freezing. The district said that 33 degrees would be an acceptable temperature for outdoor eating.
Wake County isn’t mandating outdoor eating, but its new rules mean some students are eating meals in their classroom instead of the cafeteria. Students are more likely to be eating while sitting at a desk or table.
The social distancing rules can be a challenge for K-3 classes in Wake County because they’re at full capacity with students getting daily in-person instruction. In the other grade levels, in-person class sizes are down because students are split into three groups that rotate between in-person and online classes.
Students ‘picnicking’ on the floor
Some K-2 classrooms at Salem Elementary are in a modular building and are smaller than other classrooms on campus, according to Luten. In those smaller classrooms, Luten said some students need to “picnic” by eating their meals while sitting on the floor.
The goal, Luten said, is to reduce the risk of secondary transmission during a vulnerable time of the day when face masks are not being worn.
“It’s about keeping students safe,” Luten said. “It’s all about keeping teachers safe during the pandemic.”
In upper grade levels at Salem, Luten said some students ask to eat their meals while sitting on the floor. It’s not for space reasons she said, but because those students consider “picnicking” to be a privilege.
But what Wake calls a health measure is being called “child abuse” by some critics.
“Have you heard what some @wcpss schools are doing to kids in the lunchrooms?” Jen Williams, a Wake County parent, tweeted Friday to state lawmakers. “Sitting on the floor, facing the wall, and keep being told to move closer to the wall? Dehumanizing!”
WCPSS COVID-19 Eating & Drinks Guidelines by Keung Hui on Scribd
