TOLEDO, Ohio — A remote start to the school year has led Toledo Public Schools officials to think outside the box when it comes to providing resources to the families of their students, who will be learning at home.
"We're looking at the best way to leverage all the capacity within the district to really service our students at the highest need, so understanding that food service is going to continue, just as education is going to continue remotely," TPS Superintendent Dr. Romules Durant said.
Beginning Sept. 8, the district will have more than 50 buses delivering meals to students in the community.
Dr. Durant said some of the buses will go straight to the homes of students while others will cover neighborhoods in general.
Meals aren't the only things being delivered to neighborhoods, according to Dr. Durant. TPS will also provide other resources, like mental health experts, to help families and students in need.
"If there's homes that individual children are having issues, we're going to have those individuals deployed right to the homes as well, to continue to provide wraparound services within those areas," he said.
Using buses in a creative way isn't new for TPS. The district also used buses to provide free WiFi to students at the beginning of April, when remote learning began.
Dr. Durant said this semester's initiative is all part of leveraging district tools, continuing to provide for their students and keeping employees on the job.
"During times such as this, it's not about unemployed, but it's about maintaining employment of individuals so we're not contributing to an economic downfall," Dr. Durant said.
He emphasized every position can continue to provide services, it just might look different.
Meals and additional resources will be available to all students enrolled in TPS.
Schools will be contacting families to deliver more information.