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NILES — As families across Niles bunkered down in their pajamas Tuesday, educators and support staff across Niles Community Schools were hard at work.

Although students are home until early April in observance of the governor’s social distancing mandate, Niles superintendent Dan Applegate said the district remains committed to serving students everything from meals to counseling.

“Our primary concern is the safety of our students,” Applegate said. “We’re not health experts, so we’re going to listen to what we’re being told when it comes to closing schools.”

Keeping students fed

The Michigan Department of Education received a federal waiver that allows districts across the state to serve meals to students at no cost, which, for Niles Community Schools, means cafeterias at Niles High School and Ballard Elementary are fully stacked with meals to go for students.   

“When the legislature passed the waiver to allow us to do this in a unique way, we jumped on it and said, ‘here’s a unique opportunity to serve our students,’” Applegate said.

Families may pick up the same-day lunch and breakfast for the next day Monday through Thursday. On Friday, the district will provide six meals per student — enough for two meals per day throughout the weekend.

“Our food service employees were there this morning at 7 a.m.,” Applegate said. “Our staff are stepping up and helping out. We have a lot of our noninstructional staff assisting.”

From Tuesday until April 3, breakfast and lunch will be provided at the following locations and times:

• Niles YMCA, 905 N Front St., Niles, 11 a.m. to noon

• Niles District Library, 620 E. Main St., Niles, 11 a.m. to noon

• Howard-Ellis Elementary, 2788 Mannix St., Niles, 11 a.m. to noon

• Northside Child Development Center, N Fifth St., Niles, 11 a.m. to noon

• Niles High School, 1441 Eagle St Niles, 11 a.m. to noon.

• Niles Administration & Education Center, 1 Tyler St., Niles, 11 a.m. to noon.

Applegate said some parents who are still working through the social distancing period were concerned they would not be able to pick up meal packs during the daytime hours, so meals will also be available in the evenings. Ballard Elementary will offer breakfast and dinner services only at the elementary school, 1601 W. Chicago Dr., Niles MI 5:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.

Meals are available to any child under age 18 or anyone under age 26 with a disability. Financial status is not a factor — meals are available to all students.

Committed to the students

In addition to providing meals, the superintendent said the school district made it a priority to continue to serve students during the COVID-19 outbreak. Staff continue to be paid and are working, though non-traditionally.

“I know there are other districts that just went home and none of them came in [to work] yesterday. We’re trying to support our kids that are home with their families,” Applegate said. “We see this as a gift of time to get things done that we don’t usually do.”

Many teachers spent their weekends preparing review packets for students to pick up Monday morning, and have spent the week calling students to check in.

“We’ll have our counseling staff calling our at-risk students,” Applegate said. “If they need assistance, we’ll get them the resources they need.”

The superintendent also reminded students of the district’s safe hotline.

“OK2Say is our hotline for any kind of suicide or abuse or bullying, and it will stay open,” he said. “We are encouraging the community if they see something or hear anything, say something.”

This number can be reached by calling 8-555-OK2SAY.

Supporting staff, community

In addition to taking care of the district’s students, Applegate said the district has remained committed to taking care of its employees.

“We have the safety and well-being of our staff to consider as well,” he said. “We are adjusting our expectations relative to what communication and work looks like through this. We are still trying to assist in managing our emotions and our anxiety.”

Applegate said at-risk staff and employees with high anxiety have permission to work remotely and participate in virtual meetings.

The board of education voted to continue paying employees during the shutdown.

“The Niles Community Schools Board of Education is committed to ensuring the needs of our community are met during this unprecedented time,” said school board President Dana Daniels. “To do so, we will ensure students have access to nutritional and academic services, and we will pay all full-time employees.”

Daniels added that resources are available to those struggling to cope with the extra stress and anxiety.

“The Board of Education does not take this process or decision lightly — we understand there will be implications for students, teachers, staff, the district and the community itself. We have begun making preparations and allocating funds to guarantee the costs associated with this shutdown are covered,” Daniels said. “We also understand the uncertainty of this epidemic may cause increased stress on our families. To that end, we encourage those needing support to access community mental health services at this time.”

Next steps

As of press time Tuesday, Michigan families and educators were awaiting word from the legislature as to whether or not missed class time would need to be made up at the end of the school year.

“I’ve reached out to our local legislators and given them my opinion on waiving the school days,” Applegate said. “If they don’t waive the days, then we have to make them up in June.”

Applegate encouraged his local representatives to waive the days, as many families and staff members plan vacations in June, or have jobs that require them to leave the Niles area.